Methods and apparatus to implement intelligent selection of content items for provisioning

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture are disclosed to intelligently select content items for provisioning. In one example, the apparatus includes content library querying circuitry that queries a subscription guide database table to generate a list of subscriber content items linked to a target published content item indicated in the request. The apparatus also includes content library selection circuitry to select a first content item from a group of content items that include the generated list of the subscriber content items and the target published content item, the first content item corresponds to a first data access cost that is less than or equal to a second data access cost of a second content item in the group. The apparatus also includes virtual machine provisioning circuitry to provision the virtual machine on the target host with access to the first content item.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to provisioning virtual machines and,more particularly, to intelligently selecting content items forprovisioning.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, virtual machine provisioning in a network has becomecommonplace to efficiently share resources and provide a customizedlevel of resource support for tasks. Virtual machines are provisioned innetworks that include clusters of hosts and associated datastores.Additionally, publisher/subscriber models of content libraries indatastores allow for effective sharing of content (e.g., data) acrossmultiple hosts on a network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example architecture in which a vRealize Automation®management platform is utilized to provision a virtual machine using acontent item through a publisher/subscriber model.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a cloud management platform such as theexample vRealize Automation® management platform offered by VMware, Inc.

FIG. 3 illustrates example data stored in a vRealize Automation®database including an example subscription guide database table.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example network system implementing acollection process to update a subscription guide database table for useby a publisher/subscriber model of content item provisioning.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an example network system implementing afirst content item provisioning option in a publisher/subscriber model.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example network system implementing asecond content item provisioning option in a publisher/subscriber model.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an example network system implementing athird content item provisioning option in a publisher/subscriber model.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions and/or example operations that may be executed and/orinstantiated by example processor circuitry to select a content item forprovisioning.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions and/or example operations that may be executed and/orinstantiated by processor circuitry to compare data access costs amongsubscriber content items to determine which subscriber content item toselect for provisioning.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions and/or example operations that may be executed and/orinstantiated by processor circuitry to initiate a request for a newcontent library subscription.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions and/or example operations that may be executed and/orinstantiated by processor circuitry to collect publication metadataassociated with a published content library and one or more subscribercontent libraries subscribing to the published content library.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an example processor platform structuredto execute and/or instantiate the machine readable instructions and/oroperations of FIGS. 8-11 to implement the vRealize Automation®management platform circuitry of FIG. 2

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an example implementation of the processorcircuitry of FIG. 12 .

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of another example implementation of theprocessor circuitry of FIG. 12 .

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an example software distribution platform(e.g., one or more servers) to distribute software (e.g., softwarecorresponding to the example machine readable instructions of FIGS. 8-11) to client devices associated with end users and/or consumers (e.g.,for license, sale, and/or use), retailers (e.g., for sale, re-sale,license, and/or sub-license), and/or original equipment manufacturers(OEMs) (e.g., for inclusion in products to be distributed to, forexample, retailers and/or to other end users such as direct buycustomers).

The figures are not to scale.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, descriptors such as “first,”“second,” “third,” etc., are used herein without imputing or otherwiseindicating any meaning of priority, physical order, arrangement in alist, and/or ordering in any way, but are merely used as labels and/orarbitrary names to distinguish elements for ease of understanding thedisclosed examples. In some examples, the descriptor “first” may be usedto refer to an element in the detailed description, while the sameelement may be referred to in a claim with a different descriptor suchas “second” or “third.” In such instances, it should be understood thatsuch descriptors are used merely for identifying those elementsdistinctly that might, for example, otherwise share a same name.

As used herein, the phrase “in communication,” including variationsthereof, encompasses direct communication and/or indirect communicationthrough one or more intermediary components, and does not require directphysical (e.g., wired) communication and/or constant communication, butrather additionally includes selective communication at periodicintervals, scheduled intervals, aperiodic intervals, and/or one-timeevents. As used herein, “processor circuitry” is defined to include (i)one or more special purpose electrical circuits structured to performspecific operation(s) and including one or more semiconductor-basedlogic devices (e.g., electrical hardware implemented by one or moretransistors), and/or (ii) one or more general purposesemiconductor-based electrical circuits programmed with instructions toperform specific operations and including one or moresemiconductor-based logic devices (e.g., electrical hardware implementedby one or more transistors). Examples of processor circuitry includeprogrammed microprocessors, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) thatmay instantiate instructions, Central Processor Units (CPUs), GraphicsProcessor Units (GPUs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), XPUs, ormicrocontrollers and integrated circuits such as Application SpecificIntegrated Circuits (ASICs). For example, an XPU may be implemented by aheterogeneous computing system including multiple types of processorcircuitry (e.g., one or more FPGAs, one or more CPUs, one or more GPUs,one or more DSPs, etc., and/or a combination thereof) and applicationprogramming interface(s) (API(s)) that may assign computing task(s) towhichever one(s) of the multiple types of the processing circuitryis/are best suited to execute the computing task(s).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The vRealize Automation® management platform by VMware supports virtualmachine provisioning on a host computer/computing device (e.g., a“host”) using local content library items. Local content library itemsare stored in a local datastore associated with (e.g., coupled to) thehost. An example virtual machine provisioning request indicates the hostand an associated datastore within which the virtual machine will beprovisioned. For example, a “host” may be a computing device thatincludes a processor, memory, and storage, among other hardwarecomponents and the associated datastore may be a database/data structurestored in a storage device that is included on the host. Thus, in someexamples, the process of provisioning a virtual machine on a host willinclude storing an image of the virtual machine on the associateddatastore and then executing the virtual machine image on the hosthardware, where at least part of the virtual machine image is loadedfrom the associated datastore into the host’s memory and executed on oneor more of the host(s) processors. The virtual machine image stored inthe associated datastore includes the state of the host hardware and/orthe state of an operating system, among other states.

The example virtual machine provisioning request also indicates one ormore target content items (e.g., data, information, etc.) from one ormore target content libraries are to be provided (e.g., given access) tothe provisioned virtual machine for use. A content library (with acontent item) is located in a datastore. In some examples, the targetcontent library needed for access to the target content item is notlocated in the associated datastore on the host, but rather in adatastore residing on a different host. When a virtual machineprovisioning request indicates a target datastore that is not thedatastore that the content item resides on (e.g., a remote contentlibrary on a remote datastore), the provisioning performance will becompromised due to slow network data transfer speed to copy the contentitem metadata information and the disk files from the remote datastoreto the associated datastore on the host wherein the virtual machine isprovisioned. The greater number of virtual machines to be provisionedthat require large data transfers during the provisioning, the slowerthe network will become.

Examples disclosed herein can provide a publisher/subscriberprovisioning service to allow a virtual machine on a host to beprovisioned access (e.g., granted subscriber access) to a subscribercontent library. In some examples, the subscriber content library isless remote than the requested remote content library (e.g., closer inphysical proximity to the physical server host of the virtual machine).In some examples, a vRealize Automation® management platform can reducethe amount of data transfers across hosts/clusters to provide a moreefficient cross-host/cluster virtual machine provisioning process.

Examples disclosed herein can be used with one or more different typesof virtualization environments. Three example types of virtualizationenvironments are: full virtualization, paravirtualization, and operatingsystem (OS) virtualization. Full virtualization, as used herein, is avirtualization environment in which hardware resources are managed by ahypervisor to provide virtual hardware resources to a virtual machine(VM). In a full virtualization environment, the VMs do not have accessto the underlying hardware resources. In a typical full virtualization,a host OS with embedded hypervisor (e.g., a VMWARE® ESXI® hypervisor,etc.) is installed on the server hardware. VMs including virtualhardware resources are then deployed on the hypervisor. A guest OS isinstalled in the VM. The hypervisor manages the association between thehardware resources of the server hardware and the virtual resourcesallocated to the VMs (e.g., associating physical random-access memory(RAM) with virtual RAM, etc.). Typically, in full virtualization, the VMand the guest OS have no visibility and/or access to the hardwareresources of the underlying server. Additionally, in fullvirtualization, a full guest OS is typically installed in the VM while ahost OS is installed on the server hardware. Example virtualizationenvironments include VMWARE® ESX® hypervisor, Microsoft HYPER-V®hypervisor, and Kernel Based Virtual Machine (KVM).

Paravirtualization, as used herein, is a virtualization environment inwhich hardware resources are managed by a hypervisor to provide virtualhardware resources to a VM, and guest OSs are also allowed to accesssome or all the underlying hardware resources of the server (e.g.,without accessing an intermediate virtual hardware resource, etc.). In atypical paravirtualization system, a host OS (e.g., a Linux-based OS,etc.) is installed on the server hardware. A hypervisor (e.g., the XEN®hypervisor, etc.) executes on the host OS. VMs including virtualhardware resources are then deployed on the hypervisor. The hypervisormanages the association between the hardware resources of the serverhardware and the virtual resources allocated to the VMs (e.g.,associating RAM with virtual RAM, etc.). In paravirtualization, theguest OS installed in the VM is configured also to have direct access tosome or all of the hardware resources of the server. For example, theguest OS can be precompiled with special drivers that allow the guest OSto access the hardware resources without passing through a virtualhardware layer. For example, a guest OS can be precompiled with driversthat allow the guest OS to access a sound card installed in the serverhardware. Directly accessing the hardware (e.g., without accessing thevirtual hardware resources of the VM, etc.) can be more efficient, canallow for performance of operations that are not supported by the VMand/or the hypervisor, etc.

OS virtualization is also referred to herein as containervirtualization. As used herein, OS virtualization refers to a system inwhich processes are isolated in an OS. In a typical OS virtualizationsystem, a host OS is installed on the server hardware. Alternatively,the host OS can be installed in a VM of a full virtualizationenvironment or a paravirtualization environment. The host OS of an OSvirtualization system is configured (e.g., utilizing a customizedkernel, etc.) to provide isolation and resource management for processesthat execute within the host OS (e.g., applications that execute on thehost OS, etc.). The isolation of the processes is known as a container.Thus, a process executes within a container that isolates the processfrom other processes executing on the host OS. Thus, OS virtualizationprovides isolation and resource management capabilities without theresource overhead utilized by a full virtualization environment or aparavirtualization environment. Example OS virtualization environmentsinclude Linux Containers LXC and LXD, the DOCKER™ container platform,the OPENVZ™ container platform, etc.

In some examples, a data center (or pool of linked data centers) caninclude multiple different virtualization environments. For example, adata center can include hardware resources that are managed by a fullvirtualization environment, a paravirtualization environment, an OSvirtualization environment, etc., and/or a combination thereof. In sucha data center, a workload can be deployed to any of the virtualizationenvironments. In some examples, techniques to monitor both physical andvirtual infrastructure, provide visibility into the virtualinfrastructure (e.g., VMs, virtual storage, virtual or virtualizednetworks and their control/management counterparts, etc.) and thephysical infrastructure (e.g., servers, physical storage, networkswitches, etc.).

FIG. 1 is an example architecture 100 in which a vRealize Automation®management platform 140 is utilized to provision a virtual machine witha content item through a publisher/subscriber model. The examplearchitecture 100 of FIG. 1 includes a hardware layer 106, avirtualization layer 108, and an operations and management (OAM)component 110. In the illustrated example, the hardware layer 106, thevirtualization layer 108, and the operations and management (OAM)component 110 are part of the example virtual server rack 104. Thevirtual server rack 104 of the illustrated example is based on one ormore example physical racks.

Example physical racks are a combination of computing hardware andinstalled software that may be utilized by a customer to create and/oradd to a virtual computing environment. For example, the physical racksmay include processing units (e.g., multiple blade servers), networkswitches to interconnect the processing units and to connect thephysical racks with other computing units (e.g., other physical racks ina network environment such as a cloud computing environment), and/ordata storage units (e.g., network attached storage, storage area networkhardware, etc.). The example physical racks are prepared by the systemintegrator in a partially configured state to enable the computingdevices to be rapidly deployed at a customer location (e.g., in lessthan 2 hours). For example, the system integrator may install operatingsystems, drivers, operations software, management software, etc. Theinstalled components may be configured with some system details (e.g.,system details to facilitate intercommunication between the componentsof two or more physical racks) and/or may be prepared with software tocollect further information from the customer when the virtual serverrack is installed and first powered on by the customer.

The example virtual server rack 104 is configured to configure examplephysical hardware resources 112, 114 (e.g., physical hardware resourcesof the one or more physical racks), to virtualize the physical hardwareresources 112, 114 into virtual resources, to provision virtualresources for use in providing cloud-based services, and to maintain thephysical hardware resources 112, 114 and the virtual resources.

The example hardware layer 106 of FIG. 1 includes an example hardwaremanagement system (HMS) 122 that interfaces with the physical hardwareresources 112, 114 (e.g., processors, network interface cards, servers,switches, storage devices, peripherals, power supplies, etc.). The HMS122 is configured to manage individual hardware nodes such as differentones of the physical hardware resources 112, 114. For example, managingof the hardware nodes involves discovering nodes, bootstrapping nodes,resetting nodes, processing hardware events (e.g., alarms, sensor datathreshold triggers) and state changes, exposing hardware events andstate changes to other resources and a stack of the virtual server rack104 in a hardware-independent manner. The HMS 122 also supportsrack-level boot-up sequencing of the physical hardware resources 112,114 and provides services such as secure resets, remote resets, and/orhard resets of the physical hardware resources 112, 114.

The example virtualization layer 108 includes an example virtual rackmanager (VRM) 126. The example VRM 126 communicates with the HMS 122 tomanage the physical hardware resources 112, 114. The example VRM 126creates the example virtual server rack 104 out of underlying physicalhardware resources 112, 114 that may span one or more physical racks (orsmaller units such as a hyper-appliance or half rack) and handlesphysical management of those resources. The example VRM 126 uses thevirtual server rack 104 as a basis of aggregation to create and provideoperational views, handle fault domains, and scale to accommodateworkload profiles. The example VRM 126 keeps track of available capacityin the virtual server rack 104, maintains a view of a logical pool ofvirtual resources throughout the SDDC life-cycle, and translates logicalresource provisioning to allocation of physical hardware resources 112,114. The example VRM 126 interfaces with components of a virtual systemsolutions provider, such as an example VMware vSphere® virtualizationinfrastructure components suite 128, an example VMware vCenter® virtualinfrastructure server 130, an example ESXi™ hypervisor component 132, anexample VMware NSX® network virtualization platform 134 (e.g., a networkvirtualization component or a network virtualizer), an example VMwareNSX® network virtualization manager 136, and an example VMware vSAN™network data storage virtualization component 138 (e.g., a network datastorage virtualizer). In the illustrated example, the VRM 126communicates with these components to manage and present the logicalview of underlying resources such as hosts and clusters. The example VRM126 also uses the logical view for orchestration and provisioning ofworkloads.

The VMware vSphere® virtualization infrastructure components suite 128of the illustrated example is a collection of components to setup andmanage a virtual infrastructure of servers, networks, and otherresources. Example components of the VMware vSphere® virtualizationinfrastructure components suite 128 include the example VMware vCenter®virtual infrastructure server 130 and the example ESXi™ hypervisorcomponent 132.

The example VMware vCenter® virtual infrastructure server 130 providescentralized management of a virtualization infrastructure (e.g., aVMware vSphere® virtualization infrastructure). For example, the VMwarevCenter® virtual infrastructure server 130 provides centralizedmanagement of virtualized hosts, clusters of hosts, and virtual machinesfrom a single console and/or to provide IT administrators with access toinspect and manage configurations of components of the virtualinfrastructure.

The example ESXi™ hypervisor component 132 is a hypervisor that isinstalled and runs on servers in the example physical hardware resources112, 114 to enable the servers to be partitioned into multiple logicalservers to create virtual machines.

The example VMware NSX® network virtualization platform 134 (e.g., anetwork virtualization component or a network virtualizer) virtualizesnetwork resources such as physical hardware switches to providesoftware-based virtual networks. The example VMware NSX® networkvirtualization platform 134 enables treating physical network resources(e.g., switches) as a pool of transport capacity. In some examples, theVMware NSX® network virtualization platform 134 also provides networkand security services to virtual machines with a policy driven approach.

The example VMware NSX® network virtualization manager 136 managesvirtualized network resources such as physical hardware switches toprovide software-based virtual networks. In the illustrated example, theVMware NSX® network virtualization manager 136 is a centralizedmanagement component of the VMware NSX® network virtualization platform134 and runs as a virtual appliance on an ESXi host. In the illustratedexample, a VMware NSX® network virtualization manager 136 manages asingle vCenter server environment implemented using the VMware vCenter®virtual infrastructure server 130. In the illustrated example, theVMware NSX® network virtualization manager 136 is in communication withthe VMware vCenter® virtual infrastructure server 130, the ESXi™hypervisor component 132, and the VMware NSX® network virtualizationplatform 134.

The example VMware vSAN™ network data storage virtualization component138 is software-defined storage for use in connection with virtualizedenvironments implemented using the VMware vSphere® virtualizationinfrastructure components suite 128. The example VMware vSAN™ networkdata storage virtualization component clusters server-attached hard diskdrives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) to create a shared datastorefor use as virtual storage resources in virtual environments.

Although the example VMware vSphere® virtualization infrastructurecomponents suite 128, the example VMware vCenter® virtual infrastructureserver 130, the example ESXi™ hypervisor component 132, the exampleVMware NSX® network virtualization platform 134, the example VMware NSX®network virtualization manager 136, and the example VMware vSAN™ networkdata storage virtualization component 138 are shown in the illustratedexample as implemented using products developed and sold by VMware,Inc., some or all of such components may alternatively be supplied bycomponents with the same or similar features developed and sold by othervirtualization component developers.

The virtualization layer 108 of the illustrated example, and itsassociated components are configured to run virtual machines. However,in other examples, the virtualization layer 108 may additionally oralternatively be configured to run containers. A virtual machine is adata computer node that operates with its own guest operating system ona host using resources of the host virtualized by virtualizationsoftware. A container is a data computer node that runs on top of a hostoperating system without the need for a hypervisor or separate operatingsystem.

The virtual server rack 104 of the illustrated example enablesabstracting the physical hardware resources 112, 114. In some examples,the virtual server rack 104 includes a set of physical units (e.g., oneor more racks) with each unit including physical hardware resources 112,114 such as server nodes (e.g., compute + storage + network links),network switches, and, optionally, separate storage units. From a userperspective, the example virtual server rack 104 is an aggregated poolof logic resources exposed as one or more vCenter ESXi™ clusters alongwith a logical storage pool and network connectivity. In examplesdisclosed herein, a cluster is a server group in a virtual environment.For example, a vCenter ESXi™ cluster is a group of physical servers inthe physical hardware resources 112, 114 that run ESXi™ hypervisors(developed and sold by VMware, Inc.) to virtualize processor, memory,storage, and networking resources into logical resources to run multiplevirtual machines that run operating systems and applications as if thoseoperating systems and applications were running on physical hardwarewithout an intermediate virtualization layer.

In the illustrated example, the OAM component 110 is configured toprovide different services such as heat-map service, capacity plannerservice, maintenance planner service, events and operational viewservice, virtual rack application workloads manager service, and virtualand on-premises virtual machine infrastructure management service, amongother services.

In the illustrated example, the vRealize Automation® management platform140 is an automation management platform that can be used to build andmanage a multi-vendor infrastructure. In some examples, the vRealizeAutomation® management platform includes an on-premise implementation tomanage infrastructure at the physical location of the vRealizeAutomation® management platform installation through a localizednetwork. In other examples, the vRealize Automation® management platformincludes a cloud implementation to manage infrastructure in the cloud.The example vRealize Automation® management platform 140 provides aplurality of services that enable self-provisioning of virtual machinesin private and public cloud environments, physical machines (install OEMimages), applications, and IT services according to policies defined byadministrators. For example, the vRealize Automation® managementplatform 140 may include a cloud assembly service to create and deploymachines, applications, and services to a cloud infrastructure, a codestream service to provide a continuous integration and delivery tool forsoftware, and a broker service to provide a user interface tonon-administrative users to develop and build templates for the cloudinfrastructure when administrators do not need full access for buildingand developing such templates. The example vRealize Automation®management platform 140 may include a plurality of other services, notdescribed herein, to facilitate building and managing the multi-vendorcloud infrastructure. In some examples, the example vRealize Automation®management platform 140 may be offered as an on-premise (e.g., on-prem)software solution wherein the vRealize Automation® management platform140 is provided to an example customer to run on the customer serversand customer hardware. In other examples, the example vRealizeAutomation® management platform 140 may be offered as a Software as aService (e.g., SaaS) wherein at least one instance of the vRealizeAutomation® management platform 140 is deployed on a cloud provider(e.g., Amazon Web Services).

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1 , the architecture 100 includesexample content item selection circuitry 170. The example content itemselection circuitry 170 is a component of the vRealize Automation®management platform 140. The example content item selection circuitry170 is in communication with example virtual machine (VM) provisioningcircuitry 160 (e.g., a provisioning engine), example vRealizeAutomation® database 180, and the example vRealize Automation®management platform application programming interface (API) 144 (e.g.,vRealize Automation® API 144). The vRealize Automation® API 144 providesa programming interface to access the vRealize Automation® managementplatform 140 by users, such as data center operators 150. The examplecontent item selection circuitry 170 allows for selecting a content itemto be accessed in a content item database on the basis of reducing thecost of the access. As used herein, content item is data or informationthat is computer-generated and/or user-generated and accessed byprocesses and/or users for configuring and/or use by one or moreapplications and/or the operating system in a host, for productivity,and/or for media consumption purposes. The data or information ismetadata, one or more files, and/or any other type of data and orinformation stored in a datastore. The selected content item is to beprovisioned with the example VM provisioning circuitry 160. The examplecontent item selection circuitry 170 is described in further detailbelow in connection with FIG. 2 . The example vRealize Automation®management platform 140 interfaces/communicates with the vCenter®virtual infrastructure server 130 to implement the provisioning ofvirtual machines on a network.

Although the example vRealize Automation® management platform 140 andthe example content item selection circuitry 170 are shown in theillustrated example as implemented using products developed and sold byVMware, Inc., some or all of such components may alternatively besupplied by components with the same or similar features developed andsold by other virtualization component developers. For example, theutilities leveraged by the cloud automation center may be any type ofcloud computing platform and/or cloud management platform that deliversand/or provides management of the virtual and physical components of thearchitecture 100.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a cloud management platform 200 such as theexample vRealize Automation® management platform 140 offered by VMware,Inc. The example vRealize Automation® management platform 140 is aprovisioning service with networked discrete components used in thedeployment and lifecycle management of different cloud infrastructureresources, such as virtual machines. The example vRealize Automation®management platform 140 includes the example VM provisioning circuitry160, the example content item selection circuitry 170, and the examplevRealize Automation® database 180. The example content item selectioncircuitry 170 includes example content library querying circuitry 202,example content library selection circuitry 204, example data accesscost determination circuitry 206, example subscription guide managementcircuitry 208, and example metadata collection service circuitry 210.The example vRealize Automation® database 180 includes an examplesubscription guide database table 212, which is discussed in greaterdetail below in connection with FIG. 3 , as well as an example publishedcontent items list 218 and subscriber content items list 220 stored inthe subscription guide database table 212, and datastore topology map214.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 2 , the VM provisioning circuitry 160(e.g., provisioning engine, lifecycle management service circuitry) isto deploy and manage the lifecycle of virtual machines (e.g.,workloads). In some examples, the VM provisioning circuitry 160 receives(e.g., obtains) a VM provisioning request 216 to provision a virtualmachine. In different examples, the VM provisioning request 216 is sentby a database administrator, a virtual infrastructure administrationservice, a user, an application or an operating system on a host, or anyother entity that may want to provision a virtual machine.

The example VM provisioning request 216 includes additional informationto provide specific details regarding the virtual machine. For example,the VM provisioning request 216 may include a target host where thevirtual machine is to be provisioned and reside. In some examples, thetarget host (e.g., a host machine/computing device) is to associate withand execute the virtual machine. In some examples, the VM provisioningrequest 216 also includes a specification of one or more additionalresources for the virtual machine to utilize. Resources may include anumber of processors and/or processor cores in the host to beprovisioned for the virtual machine to access, an amount of memory to beallocated from the host to be provisioned for use by the virtualmachine, a target datastore to be provisioned to store an image of thevirtual machine, and data for the virtual machine to be provisionedaccess (e.g. granted access). In some examples, the data is in the formof content items in a content library. In some examples, apublisher/subscriber model includes a published content library storedin a datastore on a network and one or more subscriber content librariesstored in one or more other datastores on the network (or on othernetworks) that subscribe to the published content library. For example,the published content library has a set of content items that make upits library and each subscriber content library has a copy of all of thecontent items (e.g., a subscriber content library) in the publishedcontent library. Thus, in some examples, the VM provisioning requestincludes a target published content item used to provision the virtualmachine. In some examples, only one content item will be used toprovision each virtual machine (e.g., the content item metadata and/orfiles will be copied over to the target host’s associated targetdatastore).

In the illustrated example of FIG. 2 , the content item selectioncircuitry 170 includes several components utilized to select contentitems to be provisioned with virtual machines. In some examples, thecontent item selection circuitry 170 includes a shell that provides aninterface between the content library querying circuitry 202, thecontent library selection circuitry 204, the data access costdetermination circuitry 206, the subscription management circuitry 208,the metadata collection service circuitry 210 and the remainder of thevRealize Automation® management platform circuitry 140. For example, thecontent item selection circuitry 170 may include an API to allow thevRealize Automation® management platform circuitry 140 and/or the VMprovisioning circuitry 160 access to the functionalities provided by thecontent library querying circuitry 202, the content library selectioncircuitry 204, the data access cost determination circuitry 206, thesubscription management circuitry 208, and/or the metadata collectionservice circuitry 210

In the illustrated example of FIG. 2 , the example content libraryquerying circuitry 202 is to query the subscription guide database table212 for a list of subscriber content items linked to the targetpublished content item (e.g., in FIG. 3 , all subscriber content itemsin the subscription guide database table 212 that are linked to thetarget published content item PCI-00004281, such as subscriber contentitems SCI-00028193 and SCI-00045284). In the illustrated example of FIG.2 , each subscriber content item in the list of subscriber content itemslinked to the target published content item is in a separate subscribercontent library. The example list of subscriber content librariessubscribe to the published content library with the original version ofthe published content item (e.g., in FIG. 3 , all subscriber contentlibraries in the subscription guide database table 212 that are linkedto the target published content library PCL-0003, such as subscribercontent libraries SCL-0625 and SCI-0417). In some examples, the contentlibrary querying circuitry 202 accesses the published content item bylooking up a subscriber content item copy of the published content itemin a subscriber content library, using the content item ID as the lookupvalue. Thus, in some examples, the list of subscriber content items isan actual list of data associated with subscriber content items (e.g.,the content item ID and location of the subscriber content item). And inother examples, the list of subscriber content items is a list of dataassociated with both the subscriber content items and the subscribercontent libraries that the subscriber content items are stored within(e.g., the content item ID and the location of the subscriber contentlibrary, where the subscriber content item is accessed by performing alookup in the subscriber content library using the content item ID).

FIG. 3 illustrates example data 300 stored in a vRealize Automation®database 180 including an example subscription guide database table 212.In the illustrated example of FIG. 3 , the subscription guide databasetable 212 includes at least the following data:

For each content item that is published in a publisher content library,the published content item ID 302, the published content item name 304,the published content library ID 306, a corresponding published contentlibrary network location 308 (e.g., a uniform resource locator (URL)),and the datastore ID 310 the publisher content library is stored within.In some examples, this published content item table with data 302-310corresponds to published content items list 218 in FIG. 2 .

For each subscriber content item in a subscriber content library, thesubscriber content item ID 312, the subscriber content item name 314,the subscriber content library ID 316, a corresponding subscribercontent library network location 318, the datastore ID 320 thesubscriber content library is stored within, and the correspondingpublisher content item ID 322. In some examples, this subscriber contentitem table with data 312-312 corresponds to subscriber content itemslist 220 in FIG. 2 .

In some examples, each published content item and subscriber contentitem has a record in the subscription guide database table 212. Thepublished content item and the subscriber content item are relatedthrough the published content item ID 302 and 322. In some examples,each subscriber content library in a publisher/subscriber model alwaysstores a copy of every published content item in the published contentlibrary. Additional and/or alternative data may be stored in the examplesubscription guide database table 212 including a time of last update ofthe example subscription guide database table 212 and a time of lastmodification to each of the content items listed.

In some examples, each subscriber content library in apublisher/subscriber model stores a subscriber content item copy ofevery published content item in the published content library. If avirtual machine provisioning process requests a content item for atarget host that is not stored on the target datastore, the metadata andfiles of the content item will be transferred to the target datastore.

In some examples, the subscription guide database table 212 includes alist of published content items (e.g., the list of content items in thepublished content library), and a set of lists of subscriber contentitems, where each list in the set corresponds to a single subscribercontent library.

Returning to FIG. 2 , in some examples, the vRealize Automation®management platform 140 includes means for querying a subscription guidedatabase table for a list of subscriber content items linked to thetarget published content item. In some examples, the published contentitem and each subscriber content item from the list of subscribercontent items are each located in one of a set of datastores on thenetwork. For example, the means for querying the subscription guidedatabase table may be implemented by content library querying circuitry202. In some examples, the content library querying circuitry 202 may beimplemented by machine executable instructions such as that implementedby at least block 804 of FIG. 8 executed by processor circuitry, whichmay be implemented by the example processor circuitry 1212 of FIG. 12 ,the example processor circuitry 1300 of FIG. 13 , and/or the exampleField Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) circuitry 1400 of FIG. 14 . Inother examples, the content library querying circuitry 202 isimplemented by other hardware logic circuitry, hardware implementedstate machines, and/or any other combination of hardware, software,and/or firmware. For example, the content library querying circuitry 202may be implemented by at least one or more hardware circuits (e.g.,processor circuitry, discrete and/or integrated analog and/or digitalcircuitry, an FPGA, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), acomparator, an operational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.)structured to perform the corresponding operation without executingsoftware or firmware, but other structures are likewise appropriate.

Returning to the illustrated example of FIG. 2 , the content libraryselection circuitry 204 is to select a first content item (e.g., acontent item identified by the content item ID 302 of FIG. 3 ) from agroup of content items including the list of subscriber content itemsand the target published content item. In such example, the selectedfirst content item incurs a data access cost that is less than or equalto any other content item in the group of content items. The exampletarget published content item is considered in the selection processbecause if the data access cost of the target published content item isat least equal to the smallest data access cost, then the publishedcontent item will be used for provisioning. In some examples, thecontent library selection circuitry 204 receives the data access costvalue from the example data access cost determination circuitry 206 tomake the selection of the first content item based on the data accesscost value. In some examples, the content library selection circuitry204 provides the selection of the first content item by providing thenetwork location of the first content item to the VM provisioningcircuitry 160 (e.g., the network location of the first content item maybe the datastore ID (310 or 320) of the first content item and/or thepublished content library network location 308 or subscriber contentlibrary network location 318 of the first content item. In response, theVM provisioning circuitry 160 provisions a requesting virtual machinewith access to the first content item by providing access rights to thevirtual machine to access the content library storing the first contentitem, which may be one of the subscriber content libraries or thepublished content library.

In some examples, the vRealize Automation® management platform 140includes means for selecting a content item from the group of contentitems including the list of subscriber content items and the publishedcontent item to provision with the virtual machine. In some examples,the content item has a data access cost less than or equal to one ormore other content items in the group. For example, the means forselecting the content item may be implemented by content libraryselection circuitry 204. In some examples, the content library selectioncircuitry 204 may be implemented by machine executable instructions suchas that implemented by at least block 806 of FIG. 8 and 910 of FIG. 9executed by processor circuitry, which may be implemented by the exampleprocessor circuitry 1212 of FIG. 12 , the example processor circuitry1300 of FIG. 13 , and/or the example Field Programmable Gate Array(FPGA) circuitry 1400 of FIG. 14 . In other examples, the contentlibrary selection circuitry 204 is implemented by other hardware logiccircuitry, hardware implemented state machines, and/or any othercombination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. For example, thecontent library selection circuitry 204 may be implemented by at leastone or more hardware circuits (e.g., processor circuitry, discreteand/or integrated analog and/or digital circuitry, an FPGA, anApplication Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a comparator, anoperational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.) structured toperform the corresponding operation without executing software orfirmware, but other structures are likewise appropriate.

In some examples, the means for selecting the content item may select acurrent content item as the target content item accessible by thevirtual machine provisioned on the target host (with reference to theblock 910 selection in FIG. 9 ).

In the illustrated example of FIG. 2 , the example data access costdetermination circuitry 206 determines a data access cost of a publishedcontent item or subscriber content item. In some examples, the dataaccess cost is associated with a data access type which specifieswhether a data access operation is performed within a same host oracross multiple hosts within a same cluster of hosts (e.g., a hostcluster) or across multiple host clusters. In some examples, a dataaccess “type” is defined as one of: A) an intra-host access, B) anintra-cluster access, or C) an inter-cluster access. In examplesdisclosed herein, an intra-host access is a data access performed withina host, an intra-cluster access is a data access performed acrossmultiple hosts within a cluster of hosts, and an inter-cluster access isa data access performed across hosts in different host clusters.

In some examples, data accesses include a transfer of data (e.g., datatransfer occurs when data that resides in a datastore at a first networklocation is accessed from host and/or datastore at a second a secondnetwork location). Thus, in some examples, the data access cost refersto the cost of transferring data from the origin network location of thedata to the destination network location of the data In differentexamples, the cost of transferring data may refer to the speed/bandwidthof the data transfer, the latency of the data transfer, the degradationin network quality due to the data transfer or any one or more of thoserepresentative cost metrics and/or one or more other cost metrics.

In reference to the three types of data accesses defined above, theexample intra-host access involves the least data access cost (e.g., anintra-host data access cost) among the three types of accesses becausedata transfer happens between two storage locations within a singlehost. The example intra-cluster access involves the next least dataaccess cost (e.g., an intra-cluster data access cost) because eventhough the data transfer happens between hosts, it involves two hosts ina local cluster, which may allow for a higher bandwidth potential due toorigin/destination locality. The example inter-cluster data access typeinvolves the highest data access cost (e.g., an inter-cluster dataaccess cost) of the three access types due to the lack of locality ofthe origin to the destination. The process to determine the data accesscost is described in further detail below in connection with FIG. 9 .

In some examples, a network location is represented by an address (e.g.,an internet protocol (IP) address). Although the network location isdescribed as referencing (e.g., pointing to) content libraries (e.g.,published and subscriber content libraries in a publisher/subscribermodel), in some examples, the network location is the address of thedatastore that a given published content library or subscriber contentlibrary is stored within.

In some examples, the vRealize Automation® management platform 140includes means for determining a data access cost for a virtual machineon a target host to access a published content item and each of itsassociated subscriber content items in a group of content items byapplying a set of data access cost rules to a comparison of a networklocation of the target datastore to a network location of each datastorestoring a content item in the group of content items. For example, themeans for determining a data access cost may be implemented by dataaccess cost determination circuitry 206. In some examples, the dataaccess cost determination circuitry 206 may be implemented by machineexecutable instructions such as that implemented by at least block 906and additionally supported in implementation by blocks 902, 904, 908,912, and 914 of FIG. 9 executed by processor circuitry, which may beimplemented by the example processor circuitry 1212 of FIG. 12 , theexample processor circuitry 1300 of FIG. 13 , and/or the example FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA) circuitry 1400 of FIG. 14 . In otherexamples, the data access cost determination circuitry 206 isimplemented by other hardware logic circuitry, hardware implementedstate machines, and/or any other combination of hardware, software,and/or firmware. For example, the data access cost determinationcircuitry 206 may be implemented by at least one or more hardwarecircuits (e.g., processor circuitry, discrete and/or integrated analogand/or digital circuitry, an FPGA, an Application Specific IntegratedCircuit (ASIC), a comparator, an operational-amplifier (op-amp), a logiccircuit, etc.) structured to perform the corresponding operation withoutexecuting software or firmware, but other structures are likewiseappropriate.

Returning to the example VM provisioning circuitry 160, once the firstcontent item has been selected from the group of content items based ona least data access cost value, the VM provisioning circuitry 160provisions the virtual machine on the target host and target datastore.Additionally, in some examples, the VM provisioning circuitry 160provisions access to the selected first content item for the virtualmachine being provisioned. In some examples, to “provision access”refers to providing a link to a requesting entity for use in accessingthe subscriber content library that was selected.

In some examples, the vRealize Automation® management platform 140includes means for provisioning a virtual machine on a target host andtarget datastore with access to a selected first content item. Forexample, the means for provisioning may be implemented by VMprovisioning circuitry 160. In some examples, the VM provisioningcircuitry 160 may be implemented by machine executable instructions suchas that implemented by at least block 808 of FIG. 8 executed byprocessor circuitry, which may be implemented by the example processorcircuitry 1212 of FIG. 12 , the example processor circuitry 1300 of FIG.13 , and/or the example Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) circuitry1400 of FIG. 14 . In other examples, the VM provisioning circuitry 160is implemented by other hardware logic circuitry, hardware implementedstate machines, and/or any other combination of hardware, software,and/or firmware. For example, the VM provisioning circuitry 160 may beimplemented by at least one or more hardware circuits (e.g., processorcircuitry, discrete and/or integrated analog and/or digital circuitry,an FPGA, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), acomparator, an operational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.)structured to perform the corresponding operation without executingsoftware or firmware, but other structures are likewise appropriate.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 2 , the subscription guide managementcircuitry 208 initiates a request to add a new subscriber contentlibrary on a target datastore (e.g., the datastore that is beingprovisioned the virtual machine image, such as provisioned virtualmachine 638 in FIG. 6 ). In some examples, through a selection of thesubscriber content item, discussed above, it is determined that theleast data access cost is still more than an intra-host data accesscost. In some examples, if a target host (e.g., the host beingprovisioned the virtual machine that is requesting the content item)provides an allowance to add subscriptions, the request from thesubscription guide management circuitry 208 attempts to lessen the dataaccess cost for future accesses to the subscriber content item byproviding a local host copy of the subscriber content item.

In some examples, the vRealize Automation® management platform 140includes means for initiating a request to add a new subscriber contentlibrary on a target datastore. For example, the means for initiating arequest may be implemented by subscription guide management circuitry208. In some examples, the subscription guide management circuitry 208may be implemented by machine executable instructions such as thatimplemented by at least block 1004, and supported in implementation byblock 1002 of FIG. 10 , executed by processor circuitry, which may beimplemented by the example processor circuitry 1212 of FIG. 12 , theexample processor circuitry 1300 of FIG. 13 , and/or the example FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA) circuitry 1400 of FIG. 14 . In otherexamples, the subscription guide management circuitry 208 is implementedby other hardware logic circuitry, hardware implemented state machines,and/or any other combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. Forexample, the subscription guide management circuitry 208 may beimplemented by at least one or more hardware circuits (e.g., processorcircuitry, discrete and/or integrated analog and/or digital circuitry,an FPGA, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), acomparator, an operational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.)structured to perform the corresponding operation without executingsoftware or firmware, but other structures are likewise appropriate.

In some examples, the means for initiating a request also determines ifthe determined data access cost is greater than an intra-host dataaccess cost.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 2 , the metadata collection servicecircuitry 210 collects at least a portion of publication metadataassociated with the published content library (e.g., a published contentlibrary identified by the published content library ID 304) and each ofthe subscriber content libraries (e.g., the subscriber content librariesidentified by the subscriber content library IDs 308, 312) from eachdatastore that stores both types of libraries. In some examples, inresponse to a request to update the subscription guide database table212 or during a normal update time window designated for updating thesubscription guide database table 212, the metadata collection servicecircuitry 210 collects metadata from the datastore storing the publishedcontent library and from the datastores storing the subscriber contentlibraries associated with the published content library. As used herein,metadata refers to data that describes and gives information about thedata in the subscription guide database table 212. The collectedmetadata is used by the metadata collection service circuitry 210 toupdate one or more data (e.g., pieces of information) in thesubscription guide database table 212, such as adding, modifying, and/orremoving published content item IDs 302, published content item names304, published content library IDs 306, published content librarynetwork locations 310, subscriber content item IDs 312, subscribercontent item names 314, subscriber content library IDs 316, subscribercontent library network locations 318, datastore IDs 320, publishedcontent item IDs 322, and additionally or alternatively, any one or moreother data that may be included in the subscription guide database table212.

In some examples, the vRealize Automation® management platform 140includes means for managing metadata performs collecting at least aportion of publication metadata associated with a published contentlibrary and each subscriber content library . The means for managingmetadata also performs updating the subscription guide database tablewith the at least portion of the collected publication metadata. Forexample, the means managing metadata may be implemented by metadatacollection service circuitry 210. In some examples, the metadatacollection service circuitry 210 may be implemented by machineexecutable instructions such as that implemented by at least blocks 1104and 1106 of FIG. 11 and the implementation further supported by block1102 of FIG. 11 , executed by processor circuitry, which may beimplemented by the example processor circuitry 1212 of FIG. 12 , theexample processor circuitry 1300 of FIG. 13 , and/or the example FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA) circuitry 1400 of FIG. 14 . In otherexamples, the metadata collection service circuitry 210 is implementedby other hardware logic circuitry, hardware implemented state machines,and/or any other combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware. Forexample, the metadata collection service circuitry 210 may beimplemented by at least one or more hardware circuits (e.g., processorcircuitry, discrete and/or integrated analog and/or digital circuitry,an FPGA, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), acomparator, an operational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.)structured to perform the corresponding operation without executingsoftware or firmware, but other structures are likewise appropriate.

In some examples, the means for collecting is to determine if a requestto update (or a scheduled time to update) the subscription guidedatabase table 212 has been received (e.g., obtained).

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example network system 400 implementinga collection process to update a subscription guide database table 212for use by publisher/subscriber model of content item provisioning. Inthe illustrated example of FIG. 4 , a VMware vCenter® virtualinfrastructure server workspace 402 includes a diagram of clusters,hosts, and datastores that are under the purview of a VMware vCenter®virtual infrastructure server 130. The example VMware vCenter® virtualinfrastructure server workspace 402 includes cluster 1 (404), cluster 2(414), and cluster 3 (420). Example cluster 1 (404) includes host 1(406) and associated datastore 1 (408) as well as host 2 (410) andassociated datastore 2 (412). Example cluster 2 (414) includes host 3(416) and associated datastore 3 (418). Example cluster 3 (420) includeshost 4 (422) and associated datastore 4 (424). In some examples,“workspace” refers to the hardware infrastructure in the network that ismanaged in part by a virtual infrastructure management server such asthe VMware vCenter® virtual infrastructure server 130 of FIG. 1 .

The example network system 400 includes a publisher/subscriber model ofcontent item provisioning (e.g., provisioning content items for accessby provisioned virtual machines). In some examples, such apublisher/subscriber model includes a publisher content library, such ascontent library 1 (426), and one or more subscriber content libraries,such as content library 2 (428) and content library 3 (430). Within thecontent libraries described is an example content item 1. In someexamples, the published copy (e.g., original copy) of content item 1(432) is stored in content library 1 (426). In some examples, thesubscriber copies of content item 1 (434 and 436) are stored in contentlibraries 2 and 3 (428 and 430), respectively.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 4 , a vRealize Automation® workspace438 includes a task 440 to be implemented by vRealize Automation®management platform 140 to enable the publisher/subscriber model ofcontent item provisioning in the example network system 400. Notably,the example vRealize Automation® management platform 140 collects bothpublisher and subscriber content library and content item metadata (442,444, and 446) to be stored in the vRealize Automation® database 180 in asubscription guide database table 212 (FIGS. 2 and 3 ). The examplecontent item metadata (442, 444, 446) enables the creation of thesubscription guide database table 212 and/or updates to the subscriptionguide database table 212. In some examples, the content item metadata(442, 444, 446) are information shown in FIG. 3 . When the subscriptionguide database table 212 is created/updated, the example network system400 is capable of provisioning content items through apublisher/subscriber model.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an example network system 500 implementinga first content item provisioning option in a publisher/subscribermodel. In the illustrated example of FIG. 5 , a VMware vCenter® virtualinfrastructure server workspace 502 includes a diagram of clusters,hosts, and datastores that are under the purview of the VMware vCenter®virtual infrastructure server 130. The example VMware vCenter® virtualinfrastructure server workspace 502 includes cluster 1 (504), cluster 2(514), and cluster 3 (520). Example cluster 1 (504) includes host 1(506) and associated datastore 1 (508) as well as host 2 (510) andassociated datastore 2 (512) Example cluster 2 (514) includes host 3(516) and associated datastore 3 (518) Example cluster 3 (520) includeshost 4 (522) and associated datastore 4 (524).

The example network system 500 includes a publisher/subscriber model ofcontent item provisioning. In some examples, this publisher/subscribermodel includes a publisher content library, such as content library 1(526), and one or more subscriber content libraries, such as contentlibrary 2 (528) and content library 3 (530). Within the contentlibraries described is an example content item 1. In some examples, thevRealize Automation® management platform 140 causes the published copy(e.g., original copy) of content item 1 (532) to be stored in contentlibrary 1 (526). In some examples, the vRealize Automation® managementplatform 140 causes the subscriber copies of content item 1 (534 and536) to be stored in content libraries 2 and 3 (528 and 530),respectively. In some examples, the vRealize Automation® managementplatform 140 provisions a virtual machine on host 1 (506) and causes animage of the provisioned virtual machine 538 to be stored in datastore 1(508).

In some examples, a VM provisioning request (216 in FIG. 2 ) requestspublished content item 1 (532) be provisioned for access by theprovisioned virtual machine 538. In the illustrated example of FIG. 5 ,a vRealize Automation® workspace 540 includes a query task 542 to beimplemented by vRealize Automation® management platform 140 to determinewhich subscriber content item in the VMware vCenter® virtualinfrastructure server workspace 502 is to be provisioned for access bythe provisioned virtual machine 538. The example vRealize Automation®management platform 140 executes the query task 542 by querying thesubscription guide database table 212 in the vRealize Automation®database 180 and determines the subscriber content item of least dataaccess cost in reference to the provisioned virtual machine 538. Theexample vRealize Automation® management platform 140 then provisions 544the determined subscriber content item for access by the provisionedvirtual machine 538. In this scenario, example subscriber content item 1(534) in content library 2 (528) has a smaller/lesser/lower data accesscost (e.g., an intra-host access) than subscriber content item 1 (536)in content library 3 (530) (e.g., an inter-cluster access) and publishedcontent item 1 (532) in content library 1 (526) (e.g., also aninter-cluster access).

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example network system 600 implementinga second content item provisioning option in a publisher/subscribermodel. In the illustrated example of FIG. 6 , a VMware vCenter® virtualinfrastructure server workspace 602 includes a diagram of clusters,hosts, and datastores that are under the purview of a VMware vCenter®virtual infrastructure server 130. The example VMware vCenter® virtualinfrastructure server workspace 602 includes cluster 1 (604), cluster 2,(614), and cluster 3 (620). Example cluster 1 (604) includes host 1(606) and associated datastore 1 (608) as well as host 2 (610) andassociated datastore 2 (612). Example cluster 2 (614) includes host 3(616) and associated datastore 3 (618). Example cluster 3 (620) includeshost 4 (622) and associated datastore 4 (624).

The example network system 600 includes a publisher/subscriber model ofcontent item provisioning. In some examples, this publisher/subscribermodel includes a publisher content library, such as content library 1(626), and one or more subscriber content libraries, such as contentlibrary 2 (628) and content library 3 (630). Within the contentlibraries described is an example content item 1. In some examples, thevRealize Automation® management platform 140 causes the published copy(e.g., original copy) of content item 1 (632) to be stored in contentlibrary 1 (626). In some examples, the vRealize Automation® managementplatform 140 causes the subscriber copies of content item 1 (634 and636) to be stored in content libraries 2 and 3 (628 and 630),respectively. In some examples, the vRealize Automation® managementplatform 140 provisions a virtual machine on host 2 (610) and causes theimage of the provisioned virtual machine 638 to be stored in datastore 2(612).

In some examples, a VM provisioning request (e.g., VM provisioningrequest 216 in FIG. 2 ) requests published content item 1 (632) beprovisioned for access by the provisioned virtual machine 638. In theillustrated example of FIG. 6 , a vRealize Automation® workspace 640includes a task 642 to be implemented by vRealize Automation® managementplatform 140 to determine which subscriber content item in the VMwarevCenter® virtual infrastructure server workspace 602 is to beprovisioned for access by the provisioned virtual machine 638. Theexample vRealize Automation® management platform 140 executes the task642 by querying the subscription guide database table 212 in thevRealize Automation® database 180 and determines the subscriber contentitem of least data access cost in reference to the provisioned virtualmachine 638. The example vRealize Automation® management platform 140then provisions 644 the determined subscriber content item for access bythe provisioned virtual machine 638. In this scenario, examplesubscriber content item 1 (634) in content library 2 (628) has asmaller/lesser/lower data access cost (e.g., an intra-cluster) thansubscriber content item 1 (636) in content library 3 (630) (e.g., aninter-cluster access) and published content item 1 (632) in contentlibrary 1 (626) (e.g., also an inter-cluster access).

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an example network system 700 implementinga third content item provisioning option in a publisher/subscribermodel. In the illustrated example of FIG. 7 , a VMware vCenter® virtualinfrastructure server workspace 702 includes a diagram of clusters,hosts, and datastores that are under the purview of a VMware vCenter®virtual infrastructure server 130. The example VMware vCenter® virtualinfrastructure server workspace 702 includes cluster 1 (704), cluster 2(714), and cluster 3 (720). Example cluster 1 (704) includes host 1(706) and associated datastore 1 (708) as well as host 2 (710) andassociated datastore 2 (712). Example cluster 2 (714) includes host 3(716) and associated datastore 3 (718). Example cluster 3 (720) includeshost 4 (722) and associated datastore 4 (724).

The example network system 700 includes a publisher/subscriber model ofcontent item provisioning. In some examples, this publisher/subscribermodel includes a publisher content library, such as content library 1(726), and one or more subscriber content libraries, such as contentlibrary 2 (728). Within the content libraries described is an examplecontent item 1. In some examples, the vRealize Automation® managementplatform 140 causes the published copy (e.g., original copy) of contentitem 1 (730) to be stored in content library 1 (726). In some examples,the vRealize Automation® management platform 140 causes the subscribercopy of content item 1 (732) to be stored in content library 2 (728). Insome examples, the vRealize Automation® management platform 140provisions a virtual machine on host 3 (716) and causes the image of theprovisioned virtual machine 734 to be stored in datastore 3 (718).

In some examples, a VM provisioning request (e.g., VM provisioningrequest 216 in FIG. 2 ) requests published content item 1 (730) beprovisioned for access by the provisioned virtual machine 734. In theillustrated example of FIG. 7 , a vRealize Automation® workspace 736includes a query task 738 to be implemented by vRealize Automation®management platform 140 to determine which subscriber content item inthe VMware vCenter® virtual infrastructure server workspace 702 is to beprovisioned for access by the provisioned virtual machine 734. Theexample vRealize Automation® management platform 140 executes the querytask 738 by querying the subscription guide database table 212 in thevRealize Automation® database 180 and determines the subscriber contentitem of least data access cost in reference to the provisioned virtualmachine 734. The example vRealize Automation® management platform 140then provisions 740 the determined subscriber content item for access bythe provisioned virtual machine 734. In this scenario, althoughsubscriber content item 1 (732) in content library 2 (728) and publishedcontent item 1 (730) in content library 1 (726) both have the highestdata access cost among the three types of data accesses (e.g., aninter-cluster access), the example vRealize Automation® managementplatform 140 provisions either subscriber content item 1 (732) orpublished content item 1 (730) for access by the provisioned virtualmachine 734 because both are the same inter-cluster access and they arethe only versions of the content item available.

While an example manner of implementing the vRealize Automation®management platform 140 of FIG. 2 is illustrated in FIG. 2 , one or moreof the elements, processes, and/or devices illustrated in FIG. 2 may becombined, divided, re-arranged, omitted, eliminated, and/or implementedin any other way. Further, the example VM provisioning circuitry 160,the example content item selection circuitry 170, the example contentlibrary querying circuitry 202, the example content library selectioncircuitry 204, the example data access cost determination circuitry 206,the example subscription guide management circuitry 208, the examplemetadata collection service circuitry 210, and/or, more generally, theexample vRealize Automation® management platform circuitry 140 of FIG. 2, may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, and/or anycombination of hardware, software, and/or firmware hardware alone or byhardware in combination with software and/or firmware. Thus, forexample, any of the example VM provisioning circuitry 160, the examplecontent item selection circuitry 170, the example content libraryquerying circuitry 202, the example content library selection circuitry204, the example data access cost determination circuitry 206, theexample subscription guide management circuitry 208, the examplemetadata collection service circuitry 210, and/or, more generally, theexample vRealize Automation® management platform circuitry 140 of FIG. 2, could be implemented by processor circuitry, analog circuit(s),digital circuit(s), logic circuit(s), programmable processor(s),programmable microcontroller(s), graphics processing unit(s) (GPU(s)),digital signal processor(s) (DSP(s)), application specific integratedcircuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)), and/orfield programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)) such as Field ProgrammableGate Arrays (FPGAs). When reading any of the apparatus or system claimsof this patent to cover a purely software and/or firmwareimplementation, at least one of the example VM provisioning circuitry160, the example content item selection circuitry 170, the examplecontent library querying circuitry 202, the example content libraryselection circuitry 204, the example data access cost determinationcircuitry 206, the example subscription guide management circuitry 208,the example metadata collection service circuitry 210, and the examplevRealize Automation® management platform circuitry 140, is/are herebyexpressly defined to include a non-transitory computer readable storagedevice or storage disk such as a memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD),a compact disk (CD), a Blu-ray disk, etc., including the software and/orfirmware. Further still, the example vRealize Automation® managementplatform circuitry 140 of FIG. 2 may include one or more elements,processes, and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, thoseillustrated in FIG. 12 , and/or may include more than one of any or allof the illustrated elements, processes and devices.

Flowcharts representative of example hardware logic circuitry, machinereadable instructions, hardware implemented state machines, and/or anycombination thereof for implementing the vRealize Automation® managementplatform circuitry 140 are shown in FIGS. 8-11 . The machine readableinstructions may be one or more executable programs or portion(s) of anexecutable program for execution by processor circuitry, such as theprocessor circuitry 1212 shown in the example processor platform 1200discussed below in connection with FIG. 12 and/or the example processorcircuitry discussed below in connection with FIGS. 13 and/or 14 . Theprogram(s) may be embodied in software stored on one or morenon-transitory computer readable storage media such as a CD, a floppydisk, a hard disk drive (HDD), a DVD, a Blu-ray disk, a volatile memory(e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) of any type, etc.), or a non-volatilememory (e.g., FLASH memory, an HDD, etc.) associated with processorcircuitry located in one or more hardware devices, but the entireprogram(s) and/or parts thereof could alternatively be executed by oneor more hardware devices other than the processor circuitry and/orembodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. The machine readableinstructions may be distributed across multiple hardware devices and/orexecuted by two or more hardware devices (e.g., a server and a clienthardware device). For example, the client hardware device may beimplemented by an endpoint client hardware device (e.g., a hardwaredevice associated with a user) or an intermediate client hardware device(e.g., a radio access network (RAN) gateway that may facilitatecommunication between a server and an endpoint client hardware device).Similarly, the non-transitory computer readable storage media mayinclude one or more mediums located in one or more hardware devices.Further, although the example program(s) is/are described with referenceto the flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 8-11 , many other methods ofimplementing the example vRealize Automation® management platformcircuitry 140 may alternatively be used. For example, the order ofexecution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocksdescribed may be changed, eliminated, or combined. Additionally oralternatively, any or all of the blocks may be implemented by one ormore hardware circuits (e.g., processor circuitry, discrete and/orintegrated analog and/or digital circuitry, an FPGA, an ASIC, acomparator, an operational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.)structured to perform the corresponding operation without executingsoftware or firmware. The processor circuitry may be distributed indifferent network locations and/or local to one or more hardware devices(e.g., a single-core processor (e.g., a single core central processorunit (CPU)), a multi-core processor (e.g., a multi-core CPU), etc.) in asingle machine, multiple processors distributed across multiple serversof a server rack, multiple processors distributed across one or moreserver racks, a CPU and/or a FPGA located in the same package (e.g., thesame integrated circuit (IC) package or in two or more separatehousings, etc).

The machine readable instructions described herein may be stored in oneor more of a compressed format, an encrypted format, a fragmentedformat, a compiled format, an executable format, a packaged format, etc.Machine readable instructions as described herein may be stored as dataor a data structure (e.g., as portions of instructions, code,representations of code, etc.) that may be utilized to create,manufacture, and/or produce machine executable instructions. Forexample, the machine readable instructions may be fragmented and storedon one or more storage devices and/or computing devices (e.g., servers)located at the same or different locations of a network or collection ofnetworks (e.g., in the cloud, in edge devices, etc.). The machinereadable instructions may require one or more of installation,modification, adaptation, updating, combining, supplementing,configuring, decryption, decompression, unpacking, distribution,reassignment, compilation, etc., in order to make them directlyreadable, interpretable, and/or executable by a computing device and/orother machine. For example, the machine readable instructions may bestored in multiple parts, which are individually compressed, encrypted,and/or stored on separate computing devices, wherein the parts whendecrypted, decompressed, and/or combined form a set of machineexecutable instructions that implement one or more operations that maytogether form a program such as that described herein.

In another example, the machine readable instructions may be stored in astate in which they may be read by processor circuitry, but requireaddition of a library (e.g., a dynamic link library (DLL)), a softwaredevelopment kit (SDK), an application programming interface (API), etc.,in order to execute the machine readable instructions on a particularcomputing device or other device. In another example, the machinereadable instructions may need to be configured (e.g., settings stored,data input, network addresses recorded, etc.) before the machinereadable instructions and/or the corresponding program(s) can beexecuted in whole or in part. Thus, machine readable media, as usedherein, may include machine readable instructions and/or program(s)regardless of the particular format or state of the machine readableinstructions and/or program(s) when stored or otherwise at rest or intransit.

The machine readable instructions described herein can be represented byany past, present, or future instruction language, scripting language,programming language, etc. For example, the machine readableinstructions may be represented using any of the following languages: C,C++, Java, C#, Perl, Python, JavaScript, HyperText Markup Language(HTML), Structured Query Language (SQL), Swift, etc.

As mentioned above, the example operations of FIGS. 8-11 may beimplemented using executable instructions (e.g., computer and/or machinereadable instructions) stored on one or more non-transitory computerand/or machine readable media such as optical storage devices, magneticstorage devices, an HDD, a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a CD,a DVD, a cache, a RAM of any type, a register, and/or any other storagedevice or storage disk in which information is stored for any duration(e.g., for extended time periods, permanently, for brief instances, fortemporarily buffering, and/or for caching of the information). As usedherein, the terms non-transitory computer readable medium andnon-transitory computer readable storage medium is expressly defined toinclude any type of computer readable storage device and/or storage diskand to exclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media.

“Including” and “comprising” (and all forms and tenses thereof) are usedherein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim employs any formof “include” or “comprise” (e.g., comprises, includes, comprising,including, having, etc.) as a preamble or within a claim recitation ofany kind, it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc.,may be present without falling outside the scope of the correspondingclaim or recitation. As used herein, when the phrase “at least” is usedas the transition term in, for example, a preamble of a claim, it isopen-ended in the same manner as the term “comprising” and “including”are open ended. The term “and/or” when used, for example, in a form suchas A, B, and/or C refers to any combination or subset of A, B, C such as(1) A alone, (2) B alone, (3) C alone, (4) A with B, (5) A with C, (6) Bwith C, or (7) A with B and with C. As used herein in the context ofdescribing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, thephrase “at least one of A and B” is intended to refer to implementationsincluding any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, or (3) at leastone A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the context ofdescribing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, thephrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer to implementationsincluding any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, or (3) at leastone A and at least one B. As used herein in the context of describingthe performance or execution of processes, instructions, actions,activities and/or steps, the phrase “at least one of A and B” isintended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at least oneA, (2) at least one B, or (3) at least one A and at least one B.Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing the performanceor execution of processes, instructions, actions, activities and/orsteps, the phrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer toimplementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B,or (3) at least one A and at least one B.

As used herein, singular references (e.g., “a”, “an”, “first”, “second”,etc.) do not exclude a plurality. The term “a” or “an” object, as usedherein, refers to one or more of that object. The terms “a” (or “an”),“one or more”, and “at least one” are used interchangeably herein.Furthermore, although individually listed, a plurality of means,elements or method actions may be implemented by, e.g., the same entityor object. Additionally, although individual features may be included indifferent examples or claims, these may possibly be combined, and theinclusion in different examples or claims does not imply that acombination of features is not feasible and/or advantageous.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions and/or example operations 800 that may be executed and/orinstantiated by processor circuitry to select a content item forprovisioning. The machine readable instructions and/or operations 800 ofFIG. 8 begin at block 802, at which the example VM provisioningcircuitry 160 (FIGS. 1 and 2 ) obtains a request to provision a virtualmachine (e.g., VM provisioning request 216 in FIG. 2 ) on a target hostwith a target datastore and a target published content item. In someexamples, the provisioning request includes an identification of atarget host and a target datastore on which to provision the virtualmachine. Additionally, the example request includes the identificationof a target published content item for which to provision and provideaccess rights to the virtual machine (e.g., “target” published contentitem PCI-00004281 in FIG. 3 ). In some examples, the target publishedcontent item is available in a published content library (e.g.,published content library PCL-0003 in FIG. 3 ). In some examples, apublished content library is implemented through a publisher/subscribermodel. An example published content library (e.g., content library 1(publisher) 526 in FIG. 5 ) includes one or more example content items(e.g., content item 1 (532) in FIG. 5 ). The content items are each oneor more data files and/or metadata, in some examples. More specifically,the example target published content item at least one of the data filesand/or metadata stored in the example target published content library.In some examples, the term “target” refers to a specific host ordatastore or content item specified in the VM provisioning request 216.

At block 804, the example content library querying circuitry 202 (FIG. 2) queries the subscription guide database table 212 (FIGS. 2 and 3 ) togenerate a list of subscriber content items linked to the targetpublished content item. For example, the content library queryingcircuitry 202 searches the subscription guide database table 212 forevery subscriber content item ID 312 (FIG. 3 ) linked to the targetpublished content item ID 322 (FIG. 3 ). The results of the querygenerate the list of linked subscriber content item IDs 312.

At block 806, the example content library selection circuitry 204 (FIG.2 ) selects a first content item from a group of content items thatinclude the generated list of subscriber content items and the targetpublished content item, the selected first content item has a dataaccess cost that is less than or equal to data access costs of othercontent items in the group of content items. Block 806 is described ingreater detail the flowchart of FIG. 9 .

At block 808, the example VM provisioning circuitry 160 (FIGS. 1 and 2 )provisions the virtual machine on the target host with provisionedaccess rights to the first subscriber content item. The example machinereadable instructions and/or the example operations 800 of FIG. 8conclude.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions and/or example operations 900 that may be executed and/orinstantiated by processor circuitry to compare data access costs amongsubscriber content items to determine which subscriber content item toselect for provisioning. The machine readable instructions and/oroperations 900 of FIG. 9 begin at block 902, at which the example dataaccess cost determination circuitry 206 (FIG. 2 ) sets a first contentitem in a group of content items (e.g., the group of content itemsincludes the generated list of subscriber content items and the targetpublished content item)as a current content item.

In some examples, the example data access cost determination circuitry206 compares the data access cost of each content item in the group ofcontent items in a linear fashion, one content item at a time. Duringsuch comparisons, the “current” content item is a position in the listfor which the data access cost determination circuitry 206 is currentlydetermining a data access cost.

At block 904, the example data access cost determination circuitry 206performs a lookup of the network location of the datastore that storesthe current content item in the group of content items and a networklocation of the target host (and the target datastore associated withthe target host) on a datastore topology map 214 (FIG. 2 ) to determinea data access type. As discussed above, in some examples, the dataaccess “type” is defined as one of: A) an intra-host access, B) anintra-cluster, or C) an inter-cluster access. In other examples, anyadditional or different number of defined data access types may beutilized to provide fewer or more data access types. For example, moredata access types may be defined to create a more finely grained set ofdefinitions of data access types. In some examples, the datastoretopology map 214 includes information that verifies the relativelocation of each cluster, host, and datastore with respect to all otherclusters, hosts, and datastores. Thus, the example data access costdetermination circuitry 206 utilizes the datastore topology map 214 todetermine whether one or more inter-host boundaries and/or one or moreinter-cluster boundaries are required to be crossed when a data accessoccurs between a host/datastore at a first network location and ahost/datastore at a second network location.

At block 906, the example data access cost determination circuitry 206applies a set of data access cost rules to the data access type todetermine the data access cost of provisioning access rights to thevirtual machine to access the current content item. In some examples,the data access cost determination circuitry 206 keeps track of asmallest data access cost value among the content items in the group ofcontent items. In some examples, the smallest data access cost value maybe stored in a memory location, in a register, or elsewhere that datacan be stored, modified, and/or utilized for calculations.

Example data access cost rules include costs for the different types ofdata accesses. In some examples, the data access cost of an intra-hostaccess is the least cost among the above-defined access types due to thebandwidth of data transfers within a single host (e.g., a local filecopy between two storage locations in a single datastore).

In some examples, the data access cost of an intra-cluster access isgreater than the data access cost of the intra-host access because theaccessed data requires a transfer between hosts, which normally utilizessome form of network file copy. The example intra-cluster access of datais localized to the single cluster, which minimizes larger networkbandwidth impacts because both hosts participating in the intra-clusteraccess are located in a single cluster of hosts. Thus, in the exampleintra-cluster access, data is transferred from a first datastoreassociated with a first host in the cluster to a second datastoreassociated with a second host in the same cluster. In some examples, acluster of hosts is implemented to share data transfer capabilitiesamong the hosts in the cluster that exceed the bandwidth capacity ofgeneral network data traffic between hosts of different clusters.

In some examples, the data access cost of an inter-cluster access isgreater than the data access cost of the intra-cluster access. Theexample inter-cluster access corresponds to a transfer of data betweentwo hosts that reside in different clusters (or reside in no clusters atall). In some examples, when one host in a first cluster accesses datalocated in the datastore associated with a second host in a secondcluster, a network file copy is utilized to transfer the data across thenetwork. Because the network is shared among many hosts and manyclusters, the bandwidth of the data transfer corresponding to theexample inter-cluster access may be the slowest, thus the data accesscost is the greatest (among the above example three types of data accesscosts).

Additionally, at block 906, if the determined data access cost isassociated with the first content item in the group of content items,then the example data access cost determination circuitry 206 sets thesmallest data access cost value to the data access cost calculated forthe first content item because no other data access costs have yet beendetermined. Then, for each subsequent content item in the group ofcontent items, at block 908, the example data access cost determinationcircuitry 206 compares the data access cost of the current content itemto the smallest data access cost value to determine whether the dataaccess cost of the current subscriber content item is less than or equalto the smallest data access cost value.

In some examples, if the data access cost determination circuitry 206determines at block 908 that the data access cost of the current contentitem is less than or equal to (or in, some examples, simply less than)the smallest data access cost value, then, at block 910, the contentlibrary selection circuitry 204 (FIG. 2 ) selects the current contentitem as the content item for which to provision access rights to thevirtual machine on the target host and updates the smallest data accesscost value. For example, the content library selection circuitry 204updates the smallest data access cost value with the data access costvalue calculated for the current content item. In some examples, if thedata access cost determination circuitry 206 determines at block 908that the data access cost of the current content item is greater thanthe smallest data access cost value, then block 910 is skipped. In suchscenarios, the previous smallest data access cost value remainsunchanged and the content item for which access rights are to beprovisioned for the virtual machine also remains unchanged. In someexamples, the first content item in the group of content items isutilized as the default content item for which access rights are to beprovisioned for the virtual machine. In these examples, the firstcontent item is utilized if no other content item in the group ofcontent items has a lower data access cost than the first content item.

At block 912, the example content library selection circuitry 204 checksif the current content item is the end of the group of content items. Ifthere are more content items in the group of content items, then, atblock 914, the example content library selection circuitry 204 sets thenext content item in the group of content items as the current contentitem and the process returns to block 904 for the purpose of repeatingthe described steps on the next content item in the group of contentitems. Otherwise, if there are no additional content items in the groupof content items, then the example machine readable instructions and/orthe example operations 900 of FIG. 9 conclude.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions and/or example operations 1000 that may be executed and/orinstantiated by processor circuitry to initiate a request for a newcontent library subscription. In some examples, the flowchart in FIG. 10is implemented when a data access cost of the selected content item fromFIG. 9 is greater than the lowest data access cost (e.g., an intra-hosttransfer). In some examples, there may be a threshold discrepancybetween the data access cost of the selected content item from FIG. 9and a lowest data access cost (e.g., an intra-cluster transfer may nottrigger the process of FIG. 10 , but an inter-cluster transfer maytrigger the process of FIG. 10 ). For example, a newly published contentlibrary may have popular content and begin receiving multiple accessrequests during in virtual machine provisioning. In some examples, oncea threshold number of content item access requests for content items ina content library have been received, the flowchart of FIG. 10 isimplemented. The machine readable instructions and/or operations 1000 ofFIG. 10 begin at block 1002, at which the example subscription guidemanagement circuitry 208 (FIG. 2 ) determines if the data access cost(calculated/determined by the example content library selectioncircuitry 204 at block 904 of FIG. 9 ) associated with the selectedcontent item is greater than the data access cost of an intra-hostaccess. In some examples, the intra-host access is the least costly ofdata access costs because an intra-host access allows the data (e.g.,file(s)) that makes up the subscriber content item to stay in the samedatastore associated with the same host. For example, the file transferfrom the content library in which the subscriber content item is locatedto the provisioned virtual machine happens between two storage locationson the same datastore. In some examples, any file transfer that movesfiles between hosts in a cluster or between clusters of hosts will havea greater data access cost than the intra-host access. Thus, if the dataaccess cost is greater than an intra-host access, it may be inferred, insome examples, that a subscriber content library containing a copy ofthe subscriber content item is not present in the target datastoreassociated with the target host.

If the subscription guide management circuitry 208 determines at block1002 that the data access cost is greater than an intra-host accessaccess cost, then, at block 1004, the example subscription guidemanagement circuitry 208 (FIG. 2 ) initiates a request to add a newsubscriber content library on the target datastore. The example machinereadable instructions and/or the example operations 1000 of FIG. 10conclude. In some examples, the new subscriber content librarysubscribes to the published content library that has the originalversion of the subscriber content item (e.g., the target publishedcontent item). In some examples, once a subscription to the publishedcontent library containing the target published content item isimplemented at the target datastore associated with the target host, thedata access cost will be reduced to an intra-host access cost.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions and/or example operations 1100 that may be executed and/orinstantiated by processor circuitry to collect publication metadataassociated with a published content library and one or more subscribercontent libraries subscribing to the published content library. Themachine readable instructions and/or operations 1100 of FIG. 11 begin atblock 1102, at which the example metadata collection service circuitry210 (FIG. 2 ) determines if a request is received or a scheduled timehas arrived to update the subscription guide database table 212 (FIGS. 2and 3 ). In some examples, an update request arrives from a requestor,which can be a database administrator requestor, an end user requestor,an application, a service running in an operating system kernel, or anyother entity capable of requesting an update to the subscription guidedatabase table 212. In some examples, a process to update thesubscription guide database table 212 may be automated. The examplemetadata collection service circuitry 210 may implement an updateschedule one or more times per day (e.g., a repeating scheduled time) toautomatically begin an update to the subscription guide database table212.

If the example metadata collection service circuitry 210 determines atblock 1102 that a request is received or a scheduled time has arrived toupdate the subscription guide database table 212, then, at block 1104,the example metadata collection service circuitry 210 collects at leasta portion of the publication metadata associated with the publishedcontent library and associated with each subscriber content library thatcorresponds to the data in the subscription guide database table 212. Insome examples, the subscription guide database table 212 includes atleast a list of published content items and a list of subscriber contentitems corresponding to the list of published content items. Eachpublished content item in the example list of published content itemsincludes: a published content item ID 302, a published content item name304, an ID of the published content library 306, a correspondingpublished content library network location 308, and the datastore ID 310the publisher content library is stored within. Each subscriber contentitem in the example list of subscriber content items includes: asubscriber content item ID 312, a subscriber content item name 314, asubscriber content library ID 316, a corresponding subscriber contentlibrary network location 318, a datastore ID 320 of the subscribercontent library is stored within, and the corresponding publishercontent item ID 322.. Thus, in some examples, the metadata collectionservice circuitry 210 collects publication metadata associated with oneor more of the above-listed data in the subscription guide databasetable 212.

At block 1106, the example metadata collection service circuitry 210updates the subscription guide database table 212 with the at least aportion of the collected publication metadata (e.g., a new publishedcontent item may have been included in a published content library andincluded in subscriber content libraries corresponding to the publishedcontent library, the publication metadata may include the metadata302-310 associated with the published content item and the metadata312-322 associated with the corresponding subscriber content items. Theexample machine readable instructions and/or the example operations 1100of FIG. 11 conclude. In some examples, if one or more published contentitems are added, modified, and/or removed from the published contentlibrary, the collected metadata verifies any such changes and thechanges are then reflected in the updated subscription guide databasetable 212. For example, if a first content item is removed from thepublished content library, the collected metadata shows the removal,either directly or through a comparison of a current list of contentitems in the published content library to a previously saved list ofcontent items that were in the published content library, [part 1 reviewstops here]

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1200structured to execute and/or instantiate the machine readableinstructions and/or operations of FIGS. 8-11 to implement the vRealizeAutomation® management platform circuitry 140 of FIG. 2 . The processorplatform 1200 can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, aworkstation, a self-learning machine (e.g., a neural network), a mobiledevice (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet such as an iPad™), apersonal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, or any othertype of computing device.

The processor platform 1200 of the illustrated example includesprocessor circuitry 1212. The processor circuitry 1212 of theillustrated example is hardware. For example, the processor circuitry1212 can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logiccircuits, FPGAs microprocessors, CPUs, GPUs, DSPs, and/ormicrocontrollers from any desired family or manufacturer. The processorcircuitry 1212 may be implemented by one or more semiconductor based(e.g., silicon based) devices. In this example, the processor circuitry1212 implements VM provisioning circuitry 160, the example content itemselection circuitry 170, the example content library querying circuitry202, the example content library selection circuitry 204, the exampledata access cost determination circuitry 206, the example subscriptionguide management circuitry 208, the example metadata collection servicecircuitry 210, and the example vRealize Automation® management platformcircuitry 140.

The processor circuitry 1212 of the illustrated example includes a localmemory 1213 (e.g., a cache, registers, etc.). The processor circuitry1212 of the illustrated example is in communication with a main memoryincluding a volatile memory 1214 and a non-volatile memory 1216 by a bus1218. The volatile memory 1214 may be implemented by Synchronous DynamicRandom Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM),RAMBUS® Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM®), and/or any other type ofRAM device. The nonvolatile memory 1216 may be implemented by flashmemory and/or any other desired type of memory device. Access to themain memory 1214, 1216 of the illustrated example is controlled by amemory controller 1217.

The processor platform 1200 of the illustrated example also includesinterface circuitry 1220. The interface circuitry 1220 may beimplemented by hardware in accordance with any type of interfacestandard, such as an Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB)interface, a Bluetooth® interface, a near field communication (NFC)interface, a PCI interface, and/or a PCIe interface.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 1222 are connectedto the interface circuitry 1220. The input device(s) 1222 permit(s) auser to enter data and/or commands into the processor circuitry 1212.The input device(s) 1222 can be implemented by, for example, an audiosensor, a microphone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, amouse, a touchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, an isopoint device,and/or a voice recognition system.

One or more output devices 1224 are also connected to the interfacecircuitry 1220 of the illustrated example. The output devices 1224 canbe implemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emittingdiode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT) display, an in-place switching(IPS) display, a touchscreen, etc.), a tactile output device, a printer,and/or speaker. The interface circuitry 1220 of the illustrated example,thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip,and/or graphics processor circuitry such as a GPU.

The interface circuitry 1220 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and/or a networkinterface to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g.,computing devices of any kind) by a network 1226. The communication canbe by, for example, an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line(DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, asatellite system, a line-of-site wireless system, a cellular telephonesystem, an optical connection, etc.

The processor platform 1200 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 1228 to store software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 1228 include magnetic storagedevices, optical storage devices, floppy disk drives, HDDs, CDs, Blu-raydisk drives, redundant array of independent disks (RAID) systems, solidstate storage devices such as flash memory devices, and DVD drives.

The machine executable instructions 1232, which may be implemented bythe machine readable instructions of FIGS. 8-11 , may be stored in themass storage device 1228, in the volatile memory 1214, in thenon-volatile memory 1216, and/or on a removable non-transitory computerreadable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an example implementation of the processorcircuitry 1212 of FIG. 12 . In this example, the processor circuitry1212 of FIG. 12 is implemented by a microprocessor 1300. For example,the microprocessor 1300 may implement multi-core hardware circuitry suchas a CPU, a DSP, a GPU, an XPU, etc. Although it may include any numberof example cores 1302 (e.g., 1 core), the microprocessor 1300 of thisexample is a multi-core semiconductor device including N cores. Thecores 1302 of the microprocessor 1300 may operate independently or maycooperate to execute machine readable instructions. For example, machinecode corresponding to a firmware program, an embedded software program,or a software program may be executed by one of the cores 1302 or may beexecuted by multiple ones of the cores 1302 at the same or differenttimes. In some examples, the machine code corresponding to the firmwareprogram, the embedded software program, or the software program is splitinto threads and executed in parallel by two or more of the cores 1302.The software program may correspond to a portion or all of the machinereadable instructions and/or operations represented by the flowcharts ofFIGS. 8-11 .

The cores 1302 may communicate by an example bus 1304. In some examples,the bus 1304 may implement a communication bus to effectuatecommunication associated with one(s) of the cores 1302. For example, thebus 1304 may implement at least one of an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C)bus, a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) bus, a PCI bus, or a PCIe bus.Additionally or alternatively, the bus 1304 may implement any other typeof computing or electrical bus. The cores 1302 may obtain data,instructions, and/or signals from one or more external devices byexample interface circuitry 1306. The cores 1302 may output data,instructions, and/or signals to the one or more external devices by theinterface circuitry 1306. Although the cores 1302 of this exampleinclude example local memory 1320 (e.g., Level 1 (L1) cache that may besplit into an L1 data cache and an L1 instruction cache), themicroprocessor 1300 also includes example shared memory 1310 that may beshared by the cores (e.g., Level 2 (L2_cache)) for high-speed access todata and/or instructions. Data and/or instructions may be transferred(e.g., shared) by writing to and/or reading from the shared memory 1310.The local memory 1320 of each of the cores 1302 and the shared memory1310 may be part of a hierarchy of storage devices including multiplelevels of cache memory and the main memory (e.g., the main memory 1214,1216 of FIG. 12 ). Typically, higher levels of memory in the hierarchyexhibit lower access time and have smaller storage capacity than lowerlevels of memory. Changes in the various levels of the cache hierarchyare managed (e.g., coordinated) by a cache coherency policy.

Each core 1302 may be referred to as a CPU, DSP, GPU, etc., or any othertype of hardware circuitry. Each core 1302 includes control unitcircuitry 1314, arithmetic and logic (AL) circuitry (sometimes referredto as an ALU) 1316, a plurality of registers 1318, the L1 cache 1320,and an example bus 1322. Other structures may be present. For example,each core 1302 may include vector unit circuitry, single instructionmultiple data (SIMD) unit circuitry, load/store unit (LSU) circuitry,branch/jump unit circuitry, floating-point unit (FPU) circuitry, etc.The control unit circuitry 1314 includes semiconductor-based circuitsstructured to control (e.g., coordinate) data movement within thecorresponding core 1302. The AL circuitry 1316 includessemiconductor-based circuits structured to perform one or moremathematic and/or logic operations on the data within the correspondingcore 1302. The AL circuitry 1316 of some examples performs integer basedoperations. In other examples, the AL circuitry 1316 also performsfloating point operations. In yet other examples, the AL circuitry 1316may include first AL circuitry that performs integer based operationsand second AL circuitry that performs floating point operations. In someexamples, the AL circuitry 1316 may be referred to as an ArithmeticLogic Unit (ALU). The registers 1318 are semiconductor-based structuresto store data and/or instructions such as results of one or more of theoperations performed by the AL circuitry 1316 of the corresponding core1302. For example, the registers 1318 may include vector register(s),SIMD register(s), general purpose register(s), flag register(s), segmentregister(s), machine specific register(s), instruction pointerregister(s), control register(s), debug register(s), memory managementregister(s), machine check register(s), etc. The registers 1318 may bearranged in a bank as shown in FIG. 13 . Alternatively, the registers1318 may be organized in any other arrangement, format, or structureincluding distributed throughout the core 1302 to shorten access time.The bus 1320 may implement at least one of an I2C bus, a SPI bus, a PCIbus, or a PCIe bus

Each core 1302 and/or, more generally, the microprocessor 1300 mayinclude additional and/or alternate structures to those shown anddescribed above. For example, one or more clock circuits, one or morepower supplies, one or more power gates, one or more cache home agents(CHAs), one or more converged/common mesh stops (CMSs), one or moreshifters (e.g., barrel shifter(s)) and/or other circuitry may bepresent. The microprocessor 1300 is a semiconductor device fabricated toinclude many transistors interconnected to implement the structuresdescribed above in one or more integrated circuits (ICs) contained inone or more packages. The processor circuitry may include and/orcooperate with one or more accelerators. In some examples, acceleratorsare implemented by logic circuitry to perform certain tasks more quicklyand/or efficiently than can be done by a general purpose processor.Examples of accelerators include ASICs and FPGAs such as those discussedherein. A GPU or other programmable device can also be an accelerator.Accelerators may be on-board the processor circuitry, in the same chippackage as the processor circuitry and/or in one or more separatepackages from the processor circuitry.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of another example implementation of theprocessor circuitry 1212 of FIG. 12 . In this example, the processorcircuitry 1212 is implemented by FPGA circuitry 1400. The FPGA circuitry1400 can be used, for example, to perform operations that couldotherwise be performed by the example microprocessor 1300 of FIG. 13executing corresponding machine readable instructions. However, onceconfigured, the FPGA circuitry 1400 instantiates the machine readableinstructions in hardware and, thus, can often execute the operationsfaster than they could be performed by a general purpose microprocessorexecuting the corresponding software.

More specifically, in contrast to the microprocessor 1300 of FIG. 13described above (which is a general purpose device that may beprogrammed to execute some or all of the machine readable instructionsrepresented by the flowcharts of FIGS. 8-11 but whose interconnectionsand logic circuitry are fixed once fabricated), the FPGA circuitry _00of the example of FIG. 6 includes interconnections and logic circuitrythat may be configured and/or interconnected in different ways afterfabrication to instantiate, for example, some or all of the machinereadable instructions represented by the flowcharts of FIGS. 8-11 . Inparticular, the FPGA 1400 may be thought of as an array of logic gates,interconnections, and switches. The switches can be programmed to changehow the logic gates are interconnected by the interconnections,effectively forming one or more dedicated logic circuits (unless anduntil the FPGA circuitry 1400 is reprogrammed). The configured logiccircuits enable the logic gates to cooperate in different ways toperform different operations on data received by input circuitry. Thoseoperations may correspond to some or all of the software represented bythe flowcharts of FIGS. 8-11 . As such, the FPGA circuitry 1400 may bestructured to effectively instantiate some or all of the machinereadable instructions of the flowcharts of FIGS. 8-11 as dedicated logiccircuits to perform the operations corresponding to those softwareinstructions in a dedicated manner analogous to an ASIC. Therefore, theFPGA circuitry 1400 may perform the operations corresponding to the someor all of the machine readable instructions of FIGS. 8-11 faster thanthe general purpose microprocessor can execute the same.

In the example of FIG. 14 , the FPGA circuitry 1400 is structured to beprogrammed (and/or reprogrammed one or more times) by an end user by ahardware description language (HDL) such as Verilog. The FPGA circuitry1400 of FIG. 14 , includes example input/output (I/O) circuitry 1402 toobtain and/or output data to/from example configuration circuitry 1404and/or external hardware (e.g., external hardware circuitry) 1406. Forexample, the configuration circuitry 1404 may implement interfacecircuitry that may obtain machine readable instructions to configure theFPGA circuitry 1400, or portion(s) thereof. In some such examples, theconfiguration circuitry 1404 may obtain the machine readableinstructions from a user, a machine (e.g., hardware circuitry (e.g.,programmed or dedicated circuitry) that may implement an ArtificialIntelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) model to generate theinstructions), etc. In some examples, the external hardware 1406 mayimplement the microprocessor 1300 of FIG. 13 . The FPGA circuitry 1400also includes an array of example logic gate circuitry 1408, a pluralityof example configurable interconnections 1410, and example storagecircuitry 1412. The logic gate circuitry 1408 and interconnections 1410are configurable to instantiate one or more operations that maycorrespond to at least some of the machine readable instructions ofFIGS. 8-11 and/or other desired operations. The logic gate circuitry1408 shown in FIG. 14 is fabricated in groups or blocks. Each blockincludes semiconductor-based electrical structures that may beconfigured into logic circuits. In some examples, the electricalstructures include logic gates (e.g., And gates, Or gates, Nor gates,etc.) that provide basic building blocks for logic circuits.Electrically controllable switches (e.g., transistors) are presentwithin each of the logic gate circuitry 1408 to enable configuration ofthe electrical structures and/or the logic gates to form circuits toperform desired operations. The logic gate circuitry 1408 may includeother electrical structures such as look-up tables (LUTs), registers(e.g., flip-flops or latches), multiplexers, etc.

The interconnections 1410 of the illustrated example are conductivepathways, traces, vias, or the like that may include electricallycontrollable switches (e.g., transistors) whose state can be changed byprogramming (e.g., using an HDL instruction language) to activate ordeactivate one or more connections between one or more of the logic gatecircuitry 1408 to program desired logic circuits.

The storage circuitry 1412 of the illustrated example is structured tostore result(s) of the one or more of the operations performed bycorresponding logic gates. The storage circuitry 1412 may be implementedby registers or the like. In the illustrated example, the storagecircuitry 1412 is distributed amongst the logic gate circuitry 1408 tofacilitate access and increase execution speed.

The example FPGA circuitry 1400 of FIG. 14 also includes exampleDedicated Operations Circuitry 1414. In this example, the DedicatedOperations Circuitry 1414 includes special purpose circuitry 1416 thatmay be invoked to implement commonly used functions to avoid the need toprogram those functions in the field. Examples of such special purposecircuitry 1416 include memory (e.g., DRAM) controller circuitry, PCIecontroller circuitry, clock circuitry, transceiver circuitry, memory,and multiplier-accumulator circuitry. Other types of special purposecircuitry may be present. In some examples, the FPGA circuitry 1400 mayalso include example general purpose programmable circuitry 1418 such asan example CPU 1420 and/or an example DSP 1422. Other general purposeprogrammable circuitry 1418 may additionally or alternatively be presentsuch as a GPU, an XPU, etc., that can be programmed to perform otheroperations.

Although FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate two example implementations of theprocessor circuitry 1212 of FIG. 12 , many other approaches arecontemplated. For example, as mentioned above, modern FPGA circuitry mayinclude an on-board CPU, such as one or more of the example CPU 1420 ofFIG. 14 . Therefore, the processor circuitry 1212 of FIG. 12 mayadditionally be implemented by combining the example microprocessor 1300of FIG. 13 and the example FPGA circuitry 1400 of FIG. 14 . In some suchhybrid examples, a first portion of the machine readable instructionsrepresented by at least the flowchart of FIG. 8 may be executed by oneor more of the cores 1302 of FIG. 13 and a second portion of the machinereadable instructions represented at least by the flowchart of FIG. 8may be executed by the FPGA circuitry 1400 of FIG. 14 .

In some examples, the processor circuitry 1212 of FIG. 12 may be in oneor more packages. For example, the processor circuitry 1300 of FIG. 13and/or the FPGA circuitry 1400 of FIG. 14 may be in one or morepackages. In some examples, an XPU may be implemented by the processorcircuitry 1212 of FIG. 12 , which may be in one or more packages. Forexample, the XPU may include a CPU in one package, a DSP in anotherpackage, a GPU in yet another package, and an FPGA in still yet anotherpackage.

A block diagram illustrating an example software distribution platform1505 to distribute software such as the example machine readableinstructions 1232 of FIG. 12 to hardware devices owned and/or operatedby third parties is illustrated in FIG. 15 . The example softwaredistribution platform 1505 may be implemented by any computer server,data facility, cloud service, etc., capable of storing and transmittingsoftware to other computing devices. The third parties may be customersof the entity owning and/or operating the software distribution platform1505. For example, the entity that owns and/or operates the softwaredistribution platform 1505 may be a developer, a seller, and/or alicensor of software such as the example machine readable instructions1232 of FIG. 12 . The third parties may be consumers, users, retailers,OEMs, etc., who purchase and/or license the software for use and/orre-sale and/or sub-licensing. In the illustrated example, the softwaredistribution platform 1505 includes one or more servers and one or morestorage devices. The storage devices store the machine readableinstructions 1232, which may correspond to the example machine readableinstructions 800, 900, 1000, and 1100 of FIGS. 8-11 , as describedabove. The one or more servers of the example software distributionplatform 1505 are in communication with a network 1510, which maycorrespond to any one or more of the Internet and/or any of the examplenetworks, such as network 120 and/or network 1226 described above. Insome examples, the one or more servers are responsive to requests totransmit the software to a requesting party as part of a commercialtransaction. Payment for the delivery, sale, and/or license of thesoftware may be handled by the one or more servers of the softwaredistribution platform and/or by a third party payment entity. Theservers enable purchasers and/or licensors to download the machinereadable instructions 1232 from the software distribution platform 1505.For example, the software, which may correspond to the example machinereadable instructions 800 of FIG. 8 , may be downloaded to the exampleprocessor platform 1200, which is to execute the machine readableinstructions 1232 to implement the vRealize Automation® managementplatform circuitry 140. In some example, one or more servers of thesoftware distribution platform 1505 periodically offer, transmit, and/orforce updates to the software (e.g., the example machine readableinstructions 1232 of FIG. 12 ) to ensure improvements, patches, updates,etc., are distributed and applied to the software at the end userdevices.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that example systems,methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture have been disclosed thatimplement an intelligent selection of content items for provisioning.The disclosed systems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufactureimprove the efficiency of using a computing device by reducing the costof accessing provisioned content items by virtual machines using asubscriber/publisher model. The disclosed systems, methods, apparatus,and articles of manufacture are accordingly directed to one or moreimprovement(s) in the operation of a machine such as a computer or otherelectronic and/or mechanical device.

Example methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture toimplement intelligent selection of content items for provisioning aredisclosed herein. Further examples and combinations thereof include thefollowing:

Example 1 includes an apparatus, comprising content library queryingcircuitry to, in response to a request to provision a virtual machine ona target host, query a subscription guide database table to generate alist of subscriber content items linked to a target published contentitem indicated in the request, the target published content item andones of the subscriber content items from the list of the subscribercontent items are located in at least one of a plurality of datastoreson a network, content library selection circuitry to select a firstcontent item from a group of content items, the group of content itemsincluding the generated list of the subscriber content items and thetarget published content item, the first content item corresponding to afirst data access cost that is less than or equal to a second dataaccess cost of a second content item in the group, and virtual machineprovisioning circuitry to provision the virtual machine on the targethost and with access to the first content item.

Example 2 includes the apparatus of example 1, further including dataaccess cost determination circuitry to determine the first data accesscost for the virtual machine on the target host to access the firstsubscriber content item based on data access cost rules and a comparisonof a first network location of the target host to a second networklocation of the first subscriber content item.

Example 3 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the data accesscost rules include an intra-host data access cost, an intra-cluster dataaccess cost, and an inter-cluster data access cost.

Example 4 includes the apparatus of example 3, further includingsubscription guide management circuitry to, in response to the firstdata access cost being greater than the intra-host data access cost,initiate a second request to add a subscriber content library on adatastore associated with the target host.

Example 5 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the subscriptionguide database table includes publication metadata, the publicationmetadata indicative of a published content item identification, apublished content item name, a published content library identification,a corresponding published content library network location, theidentification of a datastore the published content library is storedwithin, a subscriber content item identification, a subscriber contentitem name, a subscriber content library identification, a correspondingsubscriber content library network location, a datastore identificationthe subscriber content library is stored within, and the correspondingpublished content item identification.

Example 6 includes the apparatus of example 5, further includingmetadata collection service circuitry to collect at least a portion ofthe publication metadata from one or more of the plurality of datastoreson the network, the publication metadata associated with the publishedcontent library and ones of the subscriber content libraries, and updatethe subscription guide database table to include the at least theportion of the publication metadata.

Example 7 includes the apparatus of example 6, wherein the metadatacollection service circuitry is to collect the at least the portion ofthe publication metadata and update the subscription guide databasetable at a repeating scheduled time.

Example 8 includes the apparatus of example 6, wherein the metadatacollection service circuitry is to collect the at least the portion ofthe publication metadata and update the subscription guide databasetable in response to an update request.

Example 9 includes At least one non-transitory computer readable storagemedium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause processorcircuitry to at least in response to a request to provision a virtualmachine on a target host, query a subscription guide database table togenerate a list of subscriber content items linked to a target publishedcontent item indicated in the request, the target published content itemand ones of the subscriber content items from the list of the subscribercontent items are located in at least one of a plurality of datastoreson a network, select a first content item from a group of content items,the group of content items including the generated list of thesubscriber content items and the target published content item, thefirst content item corresponding to a first data access cost that isless than or equal to a second data access cost of a second content itemin the group, and provision the virtual machine on the target host andwith access to the first content item.

Example 10 includes the at least one non-transitory computer readablemedium of example 9, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause theprocessor circuitry to determine the first data access cost for thevirtual machine on the target host to access the first subscribercontent item based on data access cost rules and a comparison of a firstnetwork location of the target host to a second network location of thefirst subscriber content item.

Example 11 includes the at least one non-transitory computer readablemedium of example 10, wherein the data access cost rules include anintra-host data access cost, an intra-cluster data access cost, and aninter-cluster data access cost.

Example 12 includes the at least one non-transitory computer readablemedium of example 11, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause theprocessor circuitry to in response to the first data access cost beinggreater than the intra-host data access cost, initiate a second requestto add a subscriber content library on a datastore associated with thetarget host.

Example 13 includes the at least one non-transitory computer readablemedium of example 9, wherein the subscription guide database tableincludes publication metadata, the publication metadata indicative of apublished content item identification, a published content item name, apublished content library identification, a corresponding publishedcontent library network location, the identification of a datastore thepublished content library is stored within, a subscriber content itemidentification, a subscriber content item name, a subscriber contentlibrary identification, a corresponding subscriber content librarynetwork location, a datastore identification the subscriber contentlibrary is stored within, and the corresponding published content itemidentification.

Example 14 includes the at least one non-transitory computer readablemedium of example 13, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause theprocessor circuitry to collect at least a portion of the publicationmetadata from one or more of the plurality of datastores on the network,the publication metadata associated with the published content libraryand ones of the subscriber content libraries, and update thesubscription guide database table to include the at least the portion ofthe publication metadata.

Example 15 includes the at least one non-transitory computer readablemedium of example 14, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause theprocessor circuitry to collect the at least the portion of thepublication metadata and update the subscription guide database table ata repeating scheduled time.

Example 16 includes the at least one non-transitory computer readablemedium of example 14, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause theprocessor circuitry to collect the at least the portion of thepublication metadata and update the subscription guide database table inresponse to an update request.

Example 17 includes a method, comprising in response to a request toprovision a virtual machine on a target host, querying a subscriptionguide database table to generate a list of subscriber content itemslinked to a target published content item indicated in the request, thetarget published content item and ones of the subscriber content itemsfrom the list of the subscriber content items are located in at leastone of a plurality of datastores on a network, selecting a first contentitem from a group of content items, the group of content items includingthe generated list of the subscriber content items and the targetpublished content item, the first content item corresponding to a firstdata access cost that is less than or equal to a second data access costof a second content item in the group, and provisioning the virtualmachine on the target host and with access to the first content item.

Example 18 includes the method of example 17, further includingdetermining the first data access cost for the virtual machine on thetarget host to access the first subscriber content item based on dataaccess cost rules and a comparison of a first network location of thetarget host to a second network location of the first subscriber contentitem.

Example 19 includes the method of example 18, wherein the data accesscost rules include an intra-host data access cost, an intra-cluster dataaccess cost, and an inter-cluster data access cost.

Example 20 includes the method of example 19, further including inresponse to the first data access cost being greater than the intra-hostdata access cost, initiating a second request to add a subscribercontent library on a datastore associated with the target host.

Example 21 includes the method of example 17, wherein the subscriptionguide database table includes publication metadata, the publicationmetadata indicative of a published content item identification, apublished content item name, a published content library identification,a corresponding published content library network location, theidentification of a datastore the published content library is storedwithin, a subscriber content item identification, a subscriber contentitem name, a subscriber content library identification, a correspondingsubscriber content library network location, a datastore identificationthe subscriber content library is stored within, and the correspondingpublished content item identification.

Example 22 includes the method of example 21, further includingcollecting at least a portion of the publication metadata from one ormore of the plurality of datastores on the network, the publicationmetadata associated with the published content library and ones of thesubscriber content libraries, and updating the subscription guidedatabase table to include the at least the portion of the publicationmetadata.

Example 23 includes the method of example 22, further includingcollecting the at least the portion of the publication metadata andupdate the subscription guide database table at a repeating scheduledtime.

Example 24 includes the method of example 22, further includingcollecting the at least the portion of the publication metadata andupdate the subscription guide database table in response to an updaterequest.

Although certain example systems, methods, apparatus, and articles ofmanufacture have been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of thispatent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers allsystems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture fairly fallingwithin the scope of the claims of this patent.

The following claims are hereby incorporated into this DetailedDescription by this reference, with each claim standing on its own as aseparate embodiment of the present disclosure.

1. An apparatus, comprising: content library querying circuitry to, inresponse to a request to provision a virtual machine on a target host,query a subscription guide database table to generate a list ofsubscriber content items linked to a target published content itemindicated in the request, the target published content item and ones ofthe subscriber content items from the list of the subscriber contentitems are located in at least one of a plurality of datastores on anetwork; content library selection circuitry to select a first contentitem from a group of content items, the group of content items includingthe generated list of the subscriber content items and the targetpublished content item, the first content item corresponding to a firstdata access cost that is less than or equal to a second data access costof a second content item in the group, the first data access cost basedon a comparison of a first network location of the target host to asecond network location of a first datastore that stores the firstcontent item; virtual machine provisioning circuitry to provision thevirtual machine on the target host and with access to the first contentitem; and subscription guide management circuitry to, in response to thefirst data access cost being greater than an intra-host data accesscost, initiate a second request to add a subscriber content library on asecond datastore associated with the target host.
 2. The apparatus ofclaim 1, further including: data access cost determination circuitry todetermine the first data access cost for the virtual machine on thetarget host to access the first content item based on data access costrules.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the data access cost rulesinclude the intra-host data access cost, an intra-cluster data accesscost, and an inter-cluster data access cost.
 4. (canceled)
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the subscription guide database tableincludes publication metadata, the publication metadata indicative of athird network location of a published content library, fourth networklocations of subscriber content libraries, a list of published contentitems in the published content library, and lists of the subscribercontent items, ones of the lists of the subscriber content itemscorresponding to ones of the subscriber content libraries, the publishedcontent library including the target published content item, ones of thesubscriber content libraries including ones of the subscriber contentitems from the list of the subscriber content items.
 6. The apparatus ofclaim 5, further including metadata collection service circuitry to:collect at least a portion of the publication metadata from one or moreof the plurality of datastores on the network, the publication metadataassociated with the published content library and ones of the subscribercontent libraries; and update the subscription guide database table toinclude the at least the portion of the publication metadata.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 6, wherein the metadata collection service circuitryis to collect the at least the portion of the publication metadata andupdate the subscription guide database table at a repeating scheduledtime.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the metadata collectionservice circuitry is to collect the at least the portion of thepublication metadata and update the subscription guide database table inresponse to an update request.
 9. At least one non-transitory computerreadable storage medium comprising instructions to cause programmablecircuitry to at least: in response to a request to provision a virtualmachine on a target host, query a subscription guide database table togenerate a list of subscriber content items linked to a target publishedcontent item indicated in the request, the target published content itemand ones of the subscriber content items from the list of the subscribercontent items are located in at least one of a plurality of datastoreson a network; select a first content item from a group of content items,the group of content items including the generated list of thesubscriber content items and the target published content item, thefirst content item corresponding to a first data access cost that isless than or equal to a second data access cost of a second content itemin the group, the first data access cost based on a comparison of afirst network location of the target host to a second network locationof a first datastore that stores the first content item; provision thevirtual machine on the target host and with access to the first contentitem; and in response to the first data access cost being greater thanan intra-host data access cost, initiate a second request to add asubscriber content library on a second datastore associated with thetarget host.
 10. The at least one non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 9, wherein the instructions, are to cause theprogrammable circuitry to: determine the first data access cost for thevirtual machine on the target host to access the first content itembased on data access cost rules.
 11. The at least one non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the data access cost rulesinclude the intra-host data access cost, an intra-cluster data accesscost, and an inter-cluster data access cost.
 12. (canceled)
 13. The atleast one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, whereinthe subscriber content library is a first subscriber content library,the first content item is associated with a second subscriber contentlibrary, the subscription guide database table includes publicationmetadata, the publication metadata indicative of a published contentitem identification, a published content item name, a published contentlibrary identification, a corresponding published content librarynetwork location, a first datastore identification of a third datastorein which a published content library is stored, a subscriber contentitem identification, a subscriber content item name, a subscribercontent library identification, a corresponding subscriber contentlibrary network location, a second datastore identification of the firstdatastore in which the second subscriber content library is stored, andthe corresponding published content item identification.
 14. The atleast one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, whereinthe instructions, are to cause the programmable circuitry to: collect atleast a portion of the publication metadata from one or more of theplurality of datastores on the network, the publication metadataassociated with the published content library and ones of subscribercontent libraries; and update the subscription guide database table toinclude the at least the portion of the publication metadata.
 15. The atleast one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14, whereinthe instructions are to cause the programmable circuitry to collect theat least the portion of the publication metadata and update thesubscription guide database table at a repeating scheduled time.
 16. Theat least one non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14,wherein the instructions are to cause the programmable circuitry tocollect the at least the portion of the publication metadata and updatethe subscription guide database table in response to an update request.17. A method, comprising: in response to a request to provision avirtual machine on a target host, querying, by executing an instructionwith programmable circuitry, a subscription guide database table togenerate a list of subscriber content items linked to a target publishedcontent item indicated in the request, the target published content itemand ones of the subscriber content items from the list of the subscribercontent items are located in at least one of a plurality of datastoreson a network; selecting, by executing an instruction with theprogrammable circuitry, a first content item from a group of contentitems, the group of content items including the generated list of thesubscriber content items and the target published content item, thefirst content item corresponding to a first data access cost that isless than or equal to a second data access cost of a second content itemin the group, the first data access cost based on a comparison of afirst network location of the target host to a second network locationof a first datastore that stores the first content item; provisioning,by executing an instruction with the programmable circuitry, the virtualmachine on the target host and with access to the first content item;and in response to the first data access cost being greater than anintra-host data access cost, initiating, by executing an instructionwith the programmable circuitry, a second request to add a subscribercontent library on a second datastore associated with the target host.18. The method of claim 17, further including: determining the firstdata access cost for the virtual machine on the target host to accessthe first content item based on data access cost rules.
 19. The methodof claim 18, wherein the data access cost rules include the intra-hostdata access cost, an intra-cluster data access cost, and aninter-cluster data access cost.
 20. (canceled)
 21. The method of claim17, wherein the subscriber content library is a first subscriber contentlibrary, the first content item is associated with a second subscribercontent library, the subscription guide database table includespublication metadata, the publication metadata indicative of a publishedcontent item identification, a published content item name, a publishedcontent library identification, a corresponding published contentlibrary network location, a first datastore identification of a thirddatastore in which a published content library is stored, a subscribercontent item identification, a subscriber content item name, asubscriber content library identification, a corresponding subscribercontent library network location, a second datastore identification ofthe first datastore in which the second subscriber content library isstored, and the corresponding published content item identification. 22.The method of claim 21, further including: collecting at least a portionof the publication metadata from one or more of the plurality ofdatastores on the network, the publication metadata associated with thepublished content library and ones of subscriber content libraries; andupdating the subscription guide database table to include the at leastthe portion of the publication metadata.
 23. The method of claim 22,further including: collecting the at least the portion of thepublication metadata and update the subscription guide database table ata repeating scheduled time.
 24. The method of claim 22, furtherincluding: collecting the at least the portion of the publicationmetadata and update the subscription guide database table in response toan update request.